THE  WONDER 

WAR  in  -t&e 

HOLT  LAND 


FRANCIS  ROLT-WHEELER 


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The  Wonder  of  War  in 
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LOTHROP,  LEE  &  SHEPARD  CO.,  BOSTON 


Copyright  by  "  Illustrated  London  News." 

WHERE  SHEPHERDS  WATCHED  THEIR  FLOCKS  BY  NIGHT. 

Few  things  have  been  stranger  than  the  grim  business  of  war  in  the 

Holy  Land,  amid  places  full  of  sacred  associations. 


THE  WONDER  OF  WAR 
IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 


BY 

FRANCIS   ROLT-WHEELER 

Author  of  "The  Wonder  of  War  in  the  Air,"  "The  Wonder  of  'War  on 

Land,"  "  The  Wonder  of  War  at  Sea,"  and 

the  "U.  S.  Service  Series" 


With  Forty-seven  Illustrations  from  War  Photographs 
and  Sketches 


BOSTON 
LOTHROP,   LEE   &   SHEPARD   CO. 


Published,  August,  1919 


Copyright,  1919 
BY  LOTHBOP,  LEE  &  SHEPABD  Co. 


All  Rights  Reserved 


THE  WOKDER  OF  WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 


florwooO  press 

BERWICK  &  SMITH  CO 

NORWOOD,    MASS. 
U.  S.  A. 


j 

1 


FOREWORD 

THE  Author  desires  to  express  his  acknowl- 
edgment of  the  courtesy  of  certain  officers  at- 
tached to  the  British  Expeditionary  Force  in 
Mesopotamia,  who  have  given  some  interesting 
sidelights  on  the  campaign.  Acknowledgment 
also  is  made  of  the  assistance  received  from  three 
books  on  Mesopotamia  and  Palestine:  " British 
Campaigns  in  the  East,  1914-1918,"  by  Edmund 
Dane;  "The  War  in  the  Cradle  of  the  World"  by 
Eleanor  Franklin  Egan;  and  "By  Desert  Ways 
to  Badgad  "  by  Louise  Jebb.  Acknowledgment 
is  made  to  Blackwood's  Magazine,  for  quotations 
from  many  articles  of  the  highest  importance  and 
authority  on  the  Eastern  question  published  dur- 
ing the  war.  For  illustrations  the  author  is 
mainly  indebted  to  the  Sketch  and  the  Illustrated 
London  News,  both  of  London,  which  had  special 
artists  in  the  East  during  the  arduous  campaigns 
of  the  Great  War. 


PREFACE 

WAR  is  never  more  terrible  than  when  it  lays 
a  destructive  hand  on  those  things  which  are  of 
incalculable  value  either  for  historic  or  sacred 
reasons;  it  is  never  nobler  than  when  reverence 
and  fair  dealing  rise  superior  to  the  lurid  ex- 
igencies of  strife. 

During  the  campaigns  in  the  two  Holy  Lands  of 
the  World,  the  Holy  Land  of  the  Old  Testament 
and  of  the  New,  Palestine  and  Mesopotamia,  bat- 
tle-grounds took  on  a  curious  glamor.  The  Gar- 
den of  Eden,  Noah's  Ark,  the  journeys  of  Abra- 
ham, Moses  and  Pharaoh,  Joshua  at  Jericho, 
Samson,  the  campaigns  of  David,  the  prophecies 
of  Isaiah  and  the  conflicts  of  Judas  Maccaba&us, 
the  deserts  beyond  Jordan  where  John  the  Baptist 
lived,  the  sacred  places  associated  with  Jesus  of 
Nazareth,  all  these  became  familiar  words.  Old 
campaigns  between  the  Children  of  Israel  and  the 
Philistine  were  studied  by  generals  as  guides  to 
modern  strategy,  and  soldiers  suddenly  found  the 
Bible  as  real  a  book  to  them  as  though  it  dealt 
with  their  native  towns. 


PREFACE 

Three  great  faiths  have  been  born  in  these 
lands,  each  of  which  holds  millions  of  worshipers. 
No  intelligent  boy  can  ignore  the  fact  that  these 
three  Faiths  have  changed  the  character  of  the 
world.  Their  history  is  full  of  interest  and  sur- 
prise, and  the  peoples  who  believe  them  have  been 
molded  by  them. 

These  campaigns  have  been  full  of  romance  and 
picturesqueness.  Long  lines  of  camels  pace 
black-pebbled  deserts,  Bedouin  Arabs  on  their 
pure-bred  steeds  appear  and  disappear;  modern 
aeroplanes  fly  over  distant  lands,  unconscious  that 
they  are  fulfilling  prophecy,  great  engineering 
works  make  the  apparently  impossible  come  true. 
To  give  the  boys  of  the  United  States  a  clearer 
perception  of  that  wonderful  part  of  this  Earth — 
the  East,  to  show  how  the  western  nations  nobly 
and  kindly  fulfilled  their  obligations  of  honor,  to 
give  an  immediate  and  applicable  meaning  to 
great  lives  of  sacred  and  secular  history,  and, 
above  all,  to  show  how  closely  akin  courage  may 
be  to  reverence,  is  the  aim  and  purpose  of 

THE  AUTHOR. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I 
THE  LAYING  OF  THE  CURSE      ......     .      1 

CHAPTER  II 
BLACK  TREACHERY    .     .     .     .......     46 

CHAPTER  III 
A  CAMEL-FLIGHT  FOR  LIFE       .......     76 

CHAPTER  IV 
CAUGHT  IN  A  TURKISH  TRAP      .....     .     .  112 

CHAPTER  V 
THE  CHASE  ON  THE  TIGRIS  ......     .     .  145 

CHAPTER  VI 
THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  MIRAGE    .......  192 

CHAPTER  VII 
THE  BLACKEST  DAY  ..........  227 

CHAPTER  VIII 
THE  DAWN  OF  REVENGE      ........  274 

CHAPTER  IX 
THE  UNCONQUERED  SANDS  ........  311 

CHAPTER  X 
THE  WINGS  OF  THE  MORNING    .......  337 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

"Where  Shepherds  Watched  Their  Flocks  by 

Night       .     . Frontispiece 

TACINQ 
PAQK 

Death-Dealing  Tanks  in  "The  Gardens  of  the  Morn- 
ing" .  .  V 10 

Native  River  Craft  on  the  Persian  Gulf  ....  20 

Bird-Man  and  Bedouin 30 

Boys  of  the  Desert 40 

The  Holy  Carpet,  which  drapes  Mohammed's  Tomb 

at  Mecca 56 

The  Sacred  Mahmal  Camel,  presented  by  the  British 

Army 56 

The  Imperial  Camel  Corps  in  a  Sand-Storm  ...  64 

Indian  Cavalry  to  the  Rescue 80 

Imperial  Camel  Corps  on  the  Move 80 

Desert  Travel:     The  Ancient  Way   .....  90 

Desert  Travel :     The  Mediaeval  Way  .....  90 

Desert  Travel :     The  Modern  Way    .....  90 
The  Proclamation  of  Religious  Liberty,  read  at  the 

Base  of  the  Tower  of  David,  in  Jerusalem  .      .  100 

Four  Hundred  Miles  of  Desert  Sentinels  .      .      .      .110 

Shells  and  Cartridges  in  place  of  Gems  and  Per- 
fumes of  Araby 122 

Under  a  Sky  Like  Molten  Brass,  and  the  Sand  Hot 
Under-Foot 136 

The  Coolness  and  Shade  of  an  Oasis  makes 

''Shadow"  a  Word  of  Blessing  in  the  Orient  .  136 

The  British  Flag  over  the  Home  of  Sindbad  the 
Sailor  .  144 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

.  TACINQ 

PAGE 

Where  Eve  Gave  Adam  the  Apple  .....  152 

When  Turk  was  Master 164 

When  Turk  was  Defeated 164 

Typical  Arab  Hut  on  the  Banks  of  the  Tigris  .  .  180 

Forbidden  to  the  Mussulman ! 190 

Forbidden  to  the  Christian! 190 

Telegraph  and  Telephone  across  the  Desert  .  .  .  202 

Viaduct  before  Explosions 226 

Viaduct  after  Explosions 226 

The  First  Charge 226 

The  Second  Charge 226 

The  Third  Charge 226 

The  Fourth  Charge 226 

The  Victorious  Troops  in  Bagdad 246 

From  Railhead  to  Fighting  Line 274 

Kut-El-Amara,  where  the  British  Flag  was  Hauled 

Down       .     .     .     .     ,...  ;.„".   .      .      .     ...  298 

Australian  Camp  among  the  Pyramids  of  Egypt  .  312 

Miles  upon  Miles  of  Sandbags 326 

The  Commissariat  Camels  that  Fed  the  Armies  .  .  332 
The  Flood  Plains  of  Mesopotamia,  Hot  and  Wet  .  332 
Transport  Camels  in  Wady  Guzzee,  Aeroplanes 

Overhead 332 

A  New  Trick  for  Sand-Marching  .  /  ..  .  .  .336 
Victory  over  the  Fiercest  Enemy — Thirst  .  .  .  340 

Turkish  Cavalry  near  Beersheba 348 

Australian  Light  Horse  at  the  Walls  of  Jerusalem  .  352 
Anzac  Cavalry  Watering  Their  Horses  beneath  the 

OliVe-Trees  on  Mount  Zion 352 

"Reverently,  and  on  Foot,  the  Victor  Entered"  .  354 
The  End  of  the  Last  Crusade  .  .  366 


THE  WONDER  OF  WAR  IN 
THE  HOLY  LAND 

CHAPTER  I 

THE  LAYING  OF  THE  CUESE 

THE  discordant  laugh  of  a  striped  hyena  split 
the  silence  of  the  waste,  and  echoed  among  the 
shapeless  dust-mounds  and  choked  high-banked 
canals  which  are  all  that  now  remain  of  Babylon 
the  Golden  City,  Babylon,  once  the  mistress  of 
the  world. 

An  eager-eyed  boy  scrambled  to  a  kneeling  po- 
sition and  reached  out  his  hand  for  his  rifle. 

" Father,  shall  I  shoot?"  he  cried. 

"No,  David,  no,"  the  archaeologist  answered, 
rising  on  one  elbow  to  look  at  the  flitting  gray 
shape  that  howled  maniacally  as  it  fled  in  the 
dusk. 

The  three  men,  the  archsBologist,  his  son  and  the 
Arab  headman,  all  members  of  the  exploring 
party,  were  seated  or  lying  on  the  ground;  the 


2         WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

day  spent  in  the  excavation  of  the  ruins  under  the 
direct  rays  of  a  Mesopotamian  sun,  had  been  ex- 
cessively fatiguing,  and  a  brief  rest  had  been  or- 
dered before  the  return  to  camp. 

The  lad  fingered  his  modern  rifle  longingly. 

"I  could  get  him,  sure!"  he  asserted. 

"Perhaps,"  his  father  agreed,  "but  the  hyena 
has  more  right  here  than  we.  He  is  the  true  pos- 
sessor of  the  land.  It  is  we  who  are  the  intrud- 
ers." 

And  Ibrahim-el-Thiab,  the  old  Bedouin  Arab  of 
the  party,  added  gravely : 

"To  every  life  there  is  a  purpose.  Even  the 
bone-crushing  jaws  of  Abu  Madba'  (the  hyena) 
are  a  gift  from  Allah. ' ' 

"So  are  the  poison  fangs  of  the  deaf  adder," 
retorted  the  lad,  "but  that  does  not  prevent  your 
killing  it." 

"The  Daboia  viper  is  deaf  to  wisdom,"  an- 
swered the  Arab,  "and  it  is  written  that  he  who 
will  not  hear  wisdom  may  be  smitten  to  death 
with  a  staff.  Yet,  deaf  though  the  viper  may  be, 
he  can  be  made  the  minister  of  justice  if  Allah 
wills  it.  So  happened  it  once  to  Mohammed-el- 
Easchid." 

Now  Ibrahim  was -a  famed  story-teller  even  in 


THE  LAYING  OF  THE  CURSE       3 

that  land  of  the  remote  East  where  story-telling 
takes  the  place  of  music,  of  art  and  of  the  theater. 
The  marvelous  tales  of  the  Arabian  Nights  En- 
tertainments were  born  at  caravan  halts.  David 
at  once  scented  a  story  behind  this  allusion  to  the 
deaf  adder  and  shifted  his  position  to  face  the 
Arab. 

"Tell  me  the  story,  Ibrahim!"  he  pleaded. 

The  Bedouin  turned  to  the  archaeologist. 

"It  is  a,  tale  of  blood,  0  Man  of  Peace,"  he  said. 
1  'Is  it  your  wish  that  a  boy  should  hear  such 
tales?" 

"There  is  no  place  more  fitting  than  the  ruins 
of  Babylon  to  hear  a  tale  of  the  death  that  strikes 
in  the  dark,"  was  the  reply.  "Neither  is  there 
any  time  better  than  the  dusk  for  tales  of  blood. 
It  injures  no  one,  young  or  old,  to  hear  a  true  tale 
well  told." 

The  Bedouin  made  acknowledgment  of  the  com- 
pliment with  a  grave  inclination  of  the  head. 
Then,  drawing  his  cloak  more  closely  about  him, 
he  began  his  recital  with  the  assured  ease  of  one 
who  had  spent  many  a  hundred  desert  evenings 
telling  tales  under  the  stars. 

"It  was  many  years  ago,"  he  began,  "when  the 
father  of  my  father  was  still  young,  that  fifty 


4         WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

Bedouin  warriors  of  the  Baschid  tribe  left  their 
tents  on  a  ghazu  (raid) .  Their  tents,  at  that  time, 
were  on  the  further  side  of  the  Jordan,  which,  as 
you  know,  is  a  river  that  may  not  be  trusted. 
The  time  was  in  late  summer  when  the  water  was 
low  and  they  crossed  the  hot  jungle-valley  of  El 
Ghor  in  safety. 

"There  were  but  fifty  of  the  Easchid  warriors, 
but  the  steel  of  their  spears  was  sharp,  the  bar- 
rels of  their  guns  were  straight.  The  hand  and 
the  heart  of  the  Bedouin,"  the  Arab  continued, 
"are  always  true." 

"It  is  a  proverb,  0  Ibrahim-el-Thiab, "  de- 
clared the  archaeologist.  "Do  not  your  people 
say:  'As  straight  as  the  sunbeam  to  the  sand,  so 
is  the  blow  of  the  Bedouin  to  its  mark '  ? " 

"It  is  indeed  so  said,"  the  Arab  replied,  again 
acknowledging  the  courteous  compliment.  Then 
he  continued: 

"Though  the  band  numbered  but  fifty,  the 
Raschids  had  horses  of  the  best,  steeds  which 
came  from  the  Abeyan,  Saklawy,  Julfa,  Khalawy, 
and  Marghub  breeds,  the  only  true  breeds  of 
horses  in  the  world,  steeds  as  wonderful  as  those 
of  whom  the  Prophet  tells  that  the  great  King 
Solomon  forgot  his  prayers  the  first  day  that  he 


THE  LAYING  OF  THE  CURSE       5 

saw  them.  With  such  horses  it  was  but  a  day's 
ride  for  the  Easchids  to  a  camp  of  the  Adouan 
Bedouin.  They  rode  up  with  the  speed  of  a  des- 
ert wind  and  surprised  their  enemies  in  their 
sleep. 

"  Since,  the  Adouans  were  too  few  to  fight,  they 
offered  no  resistance,  but  nursed  revenge.  What 
says  the  Prophet:  'Accept  reproof  from  a  friend 
but  not  injury  from  a  foe. '  One  of  the  Adouans, 
however,  on  seeing  that  the  Easchids  had  not  only 
taken  away  his  horses  but  also  many  of  the 
crooked-necked  ones  (camels),  became  ill-content. 
Forgetting  that  'Time  comes  from  Allah,  but 
hurry  is  the  child  of  the  Evil  One',  he  pursued 
the  victors  of  the  successful  ghazu.  His  haste 
outran  his  judgment  and  he  fired  at  Mohammed- 
el-Easchid.  It  was  not  written  that  the  Easchid 
should  die  that  day,  so  the  bullet  sped  wide  of  its 
mark.  Mohammed,  turning  in  his  saddle,  fired  in 
response  and  the  Adouan  Bedouin  fell.  This 
made  the  Easchids  blood-debtors  to  the  Adouans. 
Is  it  not  written  that  a  life  shall  be  given  for  a 
life?" 

"Yet,  Ibrahim,"  interposed  the  archaeologist, 
" sometimes  a  money  payment  may  be  made." 

"It  is  true,"  the  Aran  admitted,  "the  Prophet 


6         WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

so  allows,  but  among  the  Bedouins  it  is  rare  that 
money  is  offered,  save  when  the  killing  has  been 
by  accident.  For  the  slaying  of  the  Adouan  by 
Mohammed,  the  Easchids  would  never  offer  a 
money  payment,  since  the  slaying  had  been  only 
after  the  Adouan  had  opened  the  attack.  Many 
years  passed  before  the  Baschids  and  the  Adou- 
ans  chanced  again  to  meet,  wherefore  the  blood- 
feud  was  not  settled,  nor  the  debt  paid. 

"A  true  Moslem  never  forgives,  for  it  is  written 
that  if  it  is  ordained  that  a  certain  thing  shall  be 
done,  Time  will  bring  the  opportunity.  On  a 
certain  day,  many  years  after,  Mohammed-el- 
Raschid,  planning  a  necessary  visit  towards 
Beisan,  traveled  northwards  on  the  western  bank 
of  the  Jordan,  beyond  Jericho. 

1  'He  did  not  cross  the  river  into  the  district  of 
the  Adouans.  Yet,  as  he  was  alone  and  far  from 
his  own  kinsmen,  he  deemed  it  wiser  to  be  pru- 
dent. When  dawn  came,  therefore,  he  crept  into 
a  cave  in  a  wady  (dry  stream)  and  went  to  sleep, 
with  the  intention  of  reaching  the  tents  of  his 
friends  by  dawn  of  the  following  day,  traveling 
only  by  night. 

"When  the  lids  of  his  eyes  were  unsealed,  the 
concealing  dusk  was  at  hand,  even  such  a  light  as 


THE  LAYING  OF  THE  CURSE      7 

that  in  which  we  are  sitting  now,  and  Mohammed- 
el-Raschid  came  out  of  his  cave  to  continue  his 
night  journey.  But,  just  as  he  descended  into  the 
bed  of  the  wady,  he  suddenly  found  himself  face 
to  face  with  an-  Adouan,  mounted  and  with  spear 
upraised. 

"  Taken  by  surprise  and  his  spirit  still  heavy 
with  unshed  sleep,  Mohammed-el-Raschid  fell  to 
the  ground  and  sent  up  a  sudden  cry : 

11  'I  claim  protection!' 

"The  Adouan  checked  his  horse  with  a  power- 
ful hand  and  deflected  the  point  of  his  spear,  look- 
ing down  with  a  stern  anger  at  the  man  kneeling 
in  the  wady  bed  a  few  feet  in  front  of  his  horse's 
hoofs.  In  the  heart  of  the  Adouan  a  fierce  strife 
was  waging. 

"Here  was  his  foe,  delivered  into  his  hand,  and 
the  blood-feud  was  still  unpaid.  Yet  here,  too, 
the  Adouan,  as  a  pure  Bedouin,  could  not  stoop  to 
slay  a  man  who  had  begged  for  his  protection. 
His  eyes  and  his  heart  and  his  weapons  were  alike 
hungry  for  vengeance.  Yet  honor  forbade  and 
pride  restrained. 

"Then,  as  the  Adouan  sat  in  his  saddle,  glaring 
down  at  the  blood-debtor  of  his  family,  in  the  dim 
light  his  quick  eye  caught  sight  of  a  Daboia  viper 


8         WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

as  it  retreated  to  its  hole  in  the  rock  not  far  from 
the  spot  where  the  E-aschid  suppliant  was 
crouched. 

"  'Mohammed-el-Raschid,'  declared  the  Adou- 
an,  'no  man  can  set  his  feet  on  any  path  save  that 
one  on  which  it  is  written  that  he  must  tread. 
Arise  and  take  that  path.' 

"  'Swear  first,'  Mohammed  answered,  'that  you 
give  the  protection  I  have  claimed. ' 

"  'An  Adouan  is  a  true  Bedouin,'  declared  the 
horseman  imperiously,  'and  I  swear  to  you  by 
Allah  and  by  Abraham  the  friend  of  Allah,  that  I 
will  not  seek  your  life  by  any  action  of  hand  or 
weapon  of  mine  and  that  I  will  not  speak  to  any 
of  my  kinsfolk  as  to  your  whereabouts. 

"  '  So  far,  and  no  farther,  you  are  safe  from  me. 
Your  death  I  shall  leave  to  the  will  of  Allah,  that 
it  may  be  when  and  where  He  will. 

' '  '  But,  that  you  may  rightly  claim  this  protec- 
tion, Mohammed-el-Raschid,  I  shall  require  an 
oath  from  you  in  return.  Swear  by  Allah  and  by 
Abraham  the  friend  of  Allah,  that  you  will  never 
plan,  attempt  or  do  any  evil  against  me,  my  fam- 
ily, my  people  or  their  belongings,  and,  that  your 
oath  may  bind  you,  for  a  mu'hrab  (praying-niche) 


THE  LAYING  OF  THE  CURSE       9 

place  your  hand  firmly  within  that  hole  in  the 
rock  yonder  and  deliver  you  of  your  oath. ' 

"Whereupon,  on  hearing  that  the  Adouan 
would  spare  his  life,  Mohammed-el-Raschid  rose 
gladly  and  put  his  hand  into  the  hole  in  the  rock 
to  swear  the  oath  which  had  been  demanded  of 
him. 

"No  sooner,  however,  had  his  hand  entered  the 
niche  in  the  rock,  than  the  Daboia  viper,  which 
the  Adouan  had  seen  coiled  there,  struck  that 
stroke  which  never  needs  to  be  repeated. 

"The  Adouan  leaned  down  from  his  horse  and 
watched  the  death  torments  of  his  ghareem  (feud- 
enemy). 

"  'I  said  that  your  death  should  be  left  to  the 
will  of  Allah,'  he  mocked.  'Allah  is  all-merciful, 
but  He  is  also  just. ' 

"  'It  is  written,'  answered  the  dying  man 
calmly,  'that  no  man  can  cheat  his  last  day,'  and 
so  died.1 

"The  Adouan  rode  back  to  his  people  to  tell 
them  that  the  blood-debt  was  paid,  and  the  Daboia 
viper  crawled  out  of  his  hole  in  the  rock,  perhaps 

i  "The  Immovable  East,"  by  Philip  J.  Baldensperger    ( Small, 
Maynard  &  Co. ) . 


io       WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

conscious,  perhaps  unconscious — who  knows? — 
that  Allah  had  chosen  him  for  a  messenger.*' 

"You  think  that  an  animal  can  understand  the 
decrees  of  Allah?"  queried  the  old  professor. 

"If  one  of  the  four-footed,"  returned  the  Arab, 
' '  can  be  taught  to  understand  the  will  of  a  human 
master,  who  is  not  all  powerful,  why  cannot  he 
understand  the  will  of  Allah,  who  is  all-power- 
ful?" 

"Even  a  hyena?"  queried  the  boy,  incredu- 
lously. 

Ibrahim  turned  slightly  in  the  boy's  direction 
and  said  gravely, 

"Daoud,  forget  not  the  old  saying:  'The 
words  of  a  wise  man  are  as  water,  which  the  sun 
may  carry  away  to  a  far  place,  but  which  will  some 
time  surely  fall  again  to  bless  the  earth.' 

"The  wise  man  Isaiah,  whose  wisdom  is  revered 
by  Moslems  as  well  as  by  Jews  and  Christians 
alike,  hundreds,  yes,  thousands  of  years  ago,  laid 
a  Dark  Curse  upon  Babylon,  and  Abu  Madba' 
who  laughs  yonder  in  the  dark,  is  one  of  the  crea- 
tures upon  whom  it  has  been  laid  by  Allah  to 
make  true  the  Curse." 

And,  in  sonorous  Arabic,  he  chanted  the  de- 
struction of  Babylon  in  the  old  prophet's  words, 


THE  LAYING  OF  THE  CURSE     n 

his  version  not  differing  greatly  from  that  which 
is  written  in  the  Old  Testament: 

"Babylon,  the  glory  of  the  kingdoms,  the  beauty 
of  the  Chaldees'  excellency,  shall  be  as  when  God 
overthrew  Sodom  and  Gomorrah.  It  shall  never 
be  inhabited,  neither  shall  it  be  dwelt  in  from 
generation  to  generation,  neither  shall  the  Arab 
pitch  tent  there,  neither  shall  the  shepherds  make 
their  fold  there. 

"But  the  wild  beasts  of  the  desert  shall  lie 
there,  and  their  houses  shall  be  full  of  doleful 
creatures;  and  owls  shall  dwell  there  and  satyrs 
shall  dance  there.  And  the  wild  beasts  of  the 
islands  shall  cry  in  their  desolate  houses  and 
dragons  in  their  pleasant  palaces." 

Silence,  a  silence  deeper  than  that  of  the  desert, 
the  heavy  silence  of  things  long  dead,  followed 
the  words  of  the  ancient  prophecy  which  carried 
the  doom  and  menace  of  the  Dark  Curse. 

The  Arab  made  a  slight  gesture  toward  the 
scene  before  their  eyes. 

Aye,  the  Curse  had  come  true! 

Dust,  desolation  and  waste ! 

Hillocks  and  great  mounds,  some  of  them  as 
high  as  small  hills,  stretched  on  every  side,  bare, 
dreary  and  unsightly.  Stretching  on  either  hand 


12       WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

could  be  dimly  traced  the  enveloping  network  of 
high-banked  canals,  wherein  aforetime  the  water 
flowed  at  a  level  higher  than  the  land,  canals  which 
had  spread  water  over  all  that  thirsty  land  and 
made  the  desert  to  blossom  like  a  rose.  These 
now  were  but  dust-filled  ditches  like  monstrous 
mole-burrows  'On  a  blasted  plain.  A  few  marshy 
pools  in  the  distance  caught  the  reflections  of  the 
sinking  sun  and  threw  into  high  relief  the  sparse, 
rough  tussocks  of  coarse  grass  which  here  and 
there  caught  the  blown  sand. 

Naked,  lonely,  forgotten,  forsaken  by  all  save 
the  beasts  of  the  desert — this  was  Babylon. 

Closer  at  hand,  less  than  a  hundred  feet  away, 
still  distinguishable  in  the  fading  light,  could  be 
seen  the  site  of  the  recent  excavations.  David 
could  trace  the  Ishtar  Gate  of  Nebuchadnezzar's 
Palace,  almost  whole.  The  few  remaining  tiles 
of  bright  enamel  glinted  clearly  against  the  ruins 
of  the  pale  yellow  wall  of  sun-baked  brick,  each 
brick  of  which,  as  the  boy  knew  well,  was  stamped 
in  cuneiform  letters,  with  the  name  of  Nebuchad- 
nezzar. 

A  jackal  slouched  swiftly  by  with  a  shrill  bark, 
answered  by  a  score  of  unseen  companions.  An 
owl  flew  out  of  a  dark  corner.  A  bat  flittered 


THE  LAYING  OF  THE  CURSE     13 

overhead.     The  wind  seemed  to  whistle   eerily: 

"Babylon  is  fallen,  is  fallen — " 

"Yet  I  have  heard,  Ibrahim,"  said  the  profes- 
sor slowly  and  musingly,  "that  there  is  an  old 
tradition  that  the  curse  should  be  lifted  some 
time. ' ' 

"It  is  true,"  the  Arab  answered,  "but  the 
prophecy  is  one  that  can  never  come  to  pass.  It 
runs  thus,  0  Man  of  Peace : 

"  'When  the  wings  of  the  morning  fly  from  the 
west  to  the  east,  then  shall  the  Two  Eivers  bow  to 
the  will  of  men  and  the  fields  of  Babylon  be  green 
again.'  " 

David,  who  had  been  restless  under  the  old 
Arab's  reverie,  burst  out  impatiently: 

"Curses  and  prophecies  and  that  sort  of  thing 
don't  mean  anything  nowadays,"  he  declared. 
"Why,  it's  like  witchcraft  or  magic,  I'd  never 
have  thought  you  were  so  superstitious  as  to  be- 
lieve .all  that  stuff,  Ibrahim. ' ' 

His  father  answered  him  quietly. 

"It  is  easy  to  see,  David,"  he  said,  "that  you 
have  been  spending  the  last  few  years  in  an 
American  school,  instead  of  being  out  here  with 
me.  Don't  make  the  mistake  of  thinking  your- 
self too  clever  to  believe  certain  things  which  hun- 


14       WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

dreds  of  thousands  of  people  do  believe  fully  and 
sincerely.  They  can't  all  be  fools,  you  know.  Be- 
ware of  hasty  judgment,  my  boy.  To  declare, 
without  evidence,  that  a  thing  is  not  true  shows 
just  as  much  ignorance  as  to  affirm,  also  without 
evidence,  that  it  is  true.  Disbelief  is  not  higher 
than  belief,  but  lower." 

"But  you  surely  don't  believe  there  could  be 
such  a  thing  as  a  Curse,  Father!"  protested  the 
boy. 

"When  you  have  been  out  here  a  little  longer 
and  get  back  again  into  the  spirit  of  Eastern  life, 
David,"  the  old  scholar  replied,  "perhaps  you 
will  come  to  believe  in  a  great  many  things  that 
your  schoolmates  in  America  would  laugh  at.  As 
for  the  Curse — " 

He  broke  off  and  looked  down  at  Babylon,  in  all 
the  world  the  most  utter  example  of  ruin  and  the 
ravages  of  Time. 

"Strange  stories  are  told  on  these  deserts, 
David,"  he  said,  "stories  to  which  you  listen  with 
your  whole  heart  in  your  ears,  stories  of  battle, 
stories  of  mystery,  stories  of  hate  and  revenge, 
stories  of  heroism  and  noble  deeds.  But  of  all 
the  tales  the  desert  holds,  there  is  no  story 
stranger  than  that  of  Babylon,  none  more  full  of 


THE  LAYING  OF  THE  CURSE     15 

battle  and  of  blood,  of  mystery  and  of  magic,  of 
adventure  and  of  wonder.  It  is  the  story  of  a 
Curse,  my  boy,  a  dark  and  dire  Curse,  perhaps  the 
greatest  curse  that  was  ever  written  in  letters  of 
doom  upon  the  pages  of  the  world's  history,  and 
the  almost  unbelievable  story  of  its  dark  fulfill- 
ment. 

"Look  before  you,  David,  look  on  these  crumb- 
ling heaps,  and  then  think  of  Babylon  in  all  her 
glory,  Babylon  the  Golden  City,  Babylon,  the 
Mistress  of  the  World.  Picture  to  yourself  the 
great  metropolis  with  her  sixty  miles  of  walls,  her 
streets  teeming  with  people,  her  palaces  served  by 
troops  of  slaves,  her  market-places  filled  with 
trade,  her  two  noble  rivers  covered  with  shipping, 
and  the  plains  on  every  side,  as  far  as  the  eye 
could  reach,  covered  with  fields  of  waving  grain, 
fed  by  the  great  irrigation  canals  and  ditches 
raised  by  the  engineers  of  olden  time. 

"Yet,  even  before  the  days  of  her  fullest  glory, 
the  Curse  was  already  written  and  declared. 

"Think  of  her  also,  David,  as  the  city  of  learn- 
ing. The  wisdom  and  knowledge  of  Babylon  was 
unsurpassed  in  the  ancient  world.  Not  only  was 
she  the  richest  city  of  the  world,  but  she  was  held 
to  be  the  wisest.  The  Chaldeans  were  the  sages, 


16       WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

the  lawyers,  the  historians,  the  priests.  In  all 
the  arts  she  was  foremost  and  her  schools  were 
the  glory  of  the  kingdom. 

"But  the  Curse  lay  heavy  on  her,  even  in  her 
pride. 

"  'Thy  wisdom  and  thy  knowledge,'  run  the 
words  of  Isaiah's  prophetic  curse,  'it  has  per- 
verted thee,  and  thou  hast  said  in  thy  heart — I 
am,  and  there  is  none  besides  me!  Therefore 
shall  evil  come  upon  thee  and  thou  shalt  not  know 
from  whence  it  ariseth,  and  mischief  shall  come 
upon  thee  and  thou  shalt  not  be  able  to  put  it  off, 
and  desolation  shall  come  upon  thee  suddenly 
which  thou  shalt  not  know.  .  .  .  Let  now  the  as- 
trologers, the  star-gazers,  the  monthly  prognosti- 
cators,  stand  up  and  save  thee  from  the  things 
that  shall  come  upon  thee.  Behold  they  shall  be 
as  stubble,  the  fire  shall  burn  them,  they  shall  not 
deliver  themselves  from  the  power  of  the  flame. 
There  shall  not  be  a  coal  to  warm  at,  nor  a  fire,  to 
sit  before  it. '  " 

The  boy  shivered  in  the  graying  evening  light. 

"Only  the  jackal  can  sit  there  now,"  he  said. 

"Yet  it  was  a  great  city  of  homes  once,"  the 
old  scholar  continued.  "Yonder,  David,  as  you 
can  still  trace  by  the  course  of  the  mounds,  ran 


THE  LAYING  OF  THE  CURSE     17 

the  great  wall.  The  city  was  built  in  the  form  of 
a  square,  each  of  the  four  sides  fifteen  miles  in 
length.  The  trench  from  which  the  clay  was  dug 
for  the  bricks  of  the  wall  formed  a  great  moat, 
wide  and  deep,  filled  with  flowing  water  from  the 
Euphrates  River. 

"So  thick  was  that  wall,  my  boy,  that  a  drive- 
way was  made  on  the  top  of  it,  so  wide  that  four 
chariots  might  drive  abreast.  Its  height  is  said 
to  have  been  three  hundred  and  fifty  feet,  though 
probably  it  was  not  quite  so  high.  One  hundred 
gates  of  brass,  says  Herodotus,  the  great  histor- 
ian, opened  to  as  many  streets,  all  of  them  wide 
and  paved  with  brick.  Guarding  these  gates  and 
situated  at  other  vantage  points  on  the  wall,  were 
two  hundred  and  fifty  turrets,  each  ten  feet  higher 
than  the  main  structure,  and  sentinels  were  posted 
in  every  turret." 

" There  wasn't  much  chance  to  catch  them  nap- 
ping," declared  David,  admiringly. 

"Yet  the  Curse  fell,  for  all  their  watching,"  re- 
turned the  professor.  And  he  continued, 

"Marvelous,  too,  was  the  royal  palace,  all  built 
of  sun-baked  brick  and  faced  with  hard  colored 
enamels,  but  the  Great  King  boasted  less  of  his 
palace  than  of  the  fact  that  even  the  poorest 


1 8       WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

houses  in  the  city  were  well  built  and  had  access 
to  ample  water,  brought  into  the  city  by  canals 
from  the  Euphrates  Eiver.  The  city  was  divided 
into  six  hundred  and  seventy-six  squares,  and  in 
the  center  of  every  square  was  a  garden  with  a 
flowing  fountain." 

"Fountains!  In  this  desert!"  the  boy  ejacu- 
lated. 

"Not  only  fountains  in  the  gardens,"  the  archae- 
ologist continued,  "but  one  of  the  greatest  won- 
ders of  the  ancient  world  was  the  Hanging  Gar- 
dens of  Babylon,  an  edifice  of  four  tiers,  built  upon 
arches  seventy-five  feet  high,  the  garden  itself  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  in  circumference.  This  was 
built  by  the  Great  King  for  his  favorite  queen, 
Amytis,  who  had  been  a  Median  princess  and  who 
pined  for  the  hills  and  forests  of  her  homeland, 
amid  the  flat  plains  of  Babylon.  Water  was 
raised  from  the  Euphrates  by  means  of  a  revolv- 
ing screw.  Built  on  great  pillars  of  brick,  its 
hundred  of  thousands  of  loads  of  earth  carried  up 
on  the  backs  of  slaves,  the  erection  of  the  Hanging 
Gardens  was  a  labor  of  terrible  proportions,  and, 
like  all  such  work,  could  only  be  maintained  by 
constant  attention  and  never-ceasing  repair. 

"High  above  all,  higher  even  than  the  royal 


THE  LAYING  OF  THE  CURSE     19 

palace  or  the  Hanging  Gardens,  glittered  the 
Temple  of  Bel,  or  Tower  of  Babel,  as  it  was  some- 
times misnamed,  built  in  seven  great  stages,  the 
five  lower  covered  with  colored  tiles  of  the  hues 
sacred  to  the  planets,  the  sixth  plated  with  sheets 
of  silver  and  the  uppermost  with  plates  of  gold. 

"The  statue  of  Bel,  made  of  solid  gold,  was  en- 
shrined there. 

"But,  higher  than  all,  hung  loweringly  the 
shadow  of  the  Curse. 

"Nor  did  the  Curse  hang  over  the  city  only,  but 
over  the  whole  adjacent  country.  The  highways 
of  the  desert  ran  through  the  streets  of  Babylon, 
crossing  the  great  bridge  that  spanned  the  river, 
a  bridge  five  hundred  feet  long  and  thirty  feet 
wide.  The  desert  highways  were  safe  in  the  days 
of  Nebuchadnezzar.  The  military  power  of 
Assyria  had  subjugated  the  world,  and  caravans 
moved  regularly  under  armed  guards.  Each 
oasis  was  a  fortified  post.  All  the  known  wells 
were  developed  and  many  more  were  dug. 

' '  Camel-trains  paced  the  hot  sands  from  Egypt, 
from  Idumea,  from  Syria  and  from  Sardis. 
Mule-trains  came  in  from  the  north.  Bafts  of  in- 
flated skins  floated  down  the  Tigris  and  the 
Euphrates  from  Armenia  and  Kurdistan.  Up 


20       WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

the  Persian  Gulf  by  oar  and  sail  came  ships  and 
barges  loaded  with  gems,  ivory,  spices,  and  silks 
from  Asia. 

"The  threads  of  the  world's  life  ran  to  Baby- 
lon. Yet  the  shears  of  the  Curse  were  already 
sharpened  to  cut  those  threads. 

"You  knew  the  story  once,  David,  when  we 
lived  out  here  before,  but  perhaps  you  have  for- 
gotten. Here,  looking  down  on  the  shapeless 
heaps  which  once  were  Babylon,  it  is  well  that  you 
should  know  how  such  a  desolation  came  to  pass. 
Do  you  remember  how  it  was  that  Babylon  came 
to  be  the  chief  city  of  the  ancient  world  ? ' ' 

"I  have  forgotten  a  good  bit,"  the  boy  admit- 
ted; "they  didn't  teach  any  Ancient  History  in 
school.  Babylon  began  as  a  province  of  Assyria, 
didn't  it?" 

"Babylon  began  long  before  Assyria,"  the 
archaeologist  corrected  him.  "Though  even 
Babylon  is  young  compared  with  some  cities  of 
Mesopotamia,  not  even  a  mound  rests  where  Nip- 
pur stood,  only  a  little  hovel  that  still  carries  the 
name  Nippur." 

"Was  that  the  first  city,  Father?" 

"It  is  the  first  of  which  we  have  definite  his- 
torical evidence,"  the  archasologist  replied.  "It 


THE  LAYING  OF  THE  CURSE     21 

was  the  capital  of  a  Sumerian  Empire  under  En- 
sag-ana." 

" How  long  ago?" 

"Almost  eight  thousand  years.  His  temple 
was  built  about  6,000  B.  c.  At  that  time,  Eridhu, 
near  the  modern  Zurnah  and  by  the  junction  of 
the  Tigris  and  Euphrates,  was  the  center  of  a 
Semitic  Empire.  Now  the  two  Sumerian  cities  of 
Nippur  and  Kis  were  rivals. ' ' 

11  Where  is  Kis,  Father?"  asked  the  boy. 

"Either  on  the  very  site  of  Babylon  or  close  to 
it,"  was  the  reply.  ' ' Luggal-zaggi-si,  King  of 
Kis,  conquered  all  the  adjacent  lands  and  enlarged 
the  Sumerian  Empire  to  cover  most  of  western 
Asia.  His  capital  was  at  Erech.  In  4,000  B.  o. 
the  Chaldean  city  of  Ur,  where  Abraham  was 
born,  became  the  capital.  Two  centuries  later 
the  great  Sargon  built  Babylon  in  3,800  B.  c. 
Then  came  an  invasion  of  the  Elamites  and  there 
were  battles  between  Kudur-Lagamar  (Chedor- 
laomer)  and  Khammurabi,  in  which  battles  Abra- 
ham took  a  part.  Khammurabi  became  Lord  of 
Western  Asia  and  the  power  of  Babylon  was 
assured ;  this  was  about  2,300  B.  c.  The  northern 
military  power  of  Assyria  conquered  Babylon 
during  the  time  of  Moses,  a  thousand  years  later, 


22       WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

and  the  Chaldeans  established  a  priestly  rule  over 
the  land  during  the  period  when  Saul  and  David 
were  kings  of  Israel,  about  1,000  B.  c.  It  passed 
into  Assyrian  hands  during  the  lifetime  of  Isaiah 
about  700  B.  c.  The  city  of  Nineveh,  then,  was 
the  center  of  the  world. 

"But,  while  Babylon  was  only  a  province  of 
Assyria  at  this  time,  it  had  not  lost  its  power  or 
its  prestige.  It  was,  indeed,  only  at  the  beginning 
of  its  greatness.  That  came  a  few  years  later, 
when  Nabopolassar,  who  was  a  vassal  King  of 
Babylon,  under  the  Assyrians,  joined  the  allied 
armies  of  Media  to  the  northwest  and  Persia  to 
the  northeast,  to  throw  off  the  yoke  of  Assyria. 
The  Babylonians,  Medes  and  Persians  combined 
their  forces,  attacking  Nineveh  from  three  sides 
at  the  same  time,  and  succeeded  in  overthrowing 
the  Assyrian  Empire.  Nabopolassar,  as  his 
share  of  the  spoil,  received  Nineveh,  Babylon  and 
the  whole  valley  of  the  Euphrates.  Thus  the 
Second  Babylonian  Empire  was  born. 

"Nabopolassar  was  a  powerful  monarch,  but  he 
was  a  better  soldier  than  an  organizer  of  the  arts 
of  peace.  You'll  find  throughout  history,  David, 
that  the  founder  of  a  dynasty  is  always  a  soldier, 
but  if  the  empire  is  to  last,  his  successor  must  be 


THE  LAYING  OF  THE  CURSE     23 

a  builder.  It  was  thus  that  the  warrior  David 
was  the  conqueror  of  Palestine,  but  Solomon  was 
the  builder;  it  was  thus  that  the  Napoleonic  em- 
pire fell,  for  the  great  general  was  not  given  the 
time  to  consolidate  his  conquests. 

"When  Nabopolassar  died,  after  a  long  and 
powerful  reign,  he  was  succeeded  by  Nebuchad- 
nezzar, one  of  the  greatest  kings  of  olden  times. 
He  it  was  who  besieged  Jerusalem  and  took  the 
tribes  of  the  Jews  into  captivity.  He  it  was  who 
took  Daniel,  a  Jewish  prince,  and  made  him  one 
of  his  chief  counselors.  He  it  was  who  set  up  a 
great  golden  image  and  bade  every  one  in  the 
kingdom  at  a  certain  hour  bow  down  and  worship 
it,  and  those  who  refused  to  do  so  should  be  cast 
into  a  fiery  furnace ;  he  it  was  who  cast  the  three 
Hebrews,  Meshach,  Shadrach,  and  Abednego,  into 
the  furnace ;  and  he  it  was  who  saw  that  the  men 
walked  in  the  fire  and  were  not  consumed;  and, 
yet  again,  he  it  was  who,  convinced  by  this  mira- 
cle, freed  the  convicted  men  from  the  furnace  and 
promoted  them  to  even  higher  posts  in  the  gov- 
ernment of  Babylon. 

"That  mound,  David,  which  you  see  far  off  to 
the  left,  surmounted  by  a  small  mosque,  is  the  site 
of  that  fiery  furnace,  and  in  it  have  been  found 


24 

bricks  which  have  been  subjected  to  an  intense 
heat,  quite  different  from  the  sun-baked  bricks  of 
the  buildings  around  it. 

"It  was  Nebuchadnezzar,  again,  who  forgot 
this  warning  when  he  looked  from  his  royal  pal- 
ace upon  the  Golden  City,  who  gazed  on  the  Hang- 
ing Gardens,  who  saw  the  Temple  of  Bel  rising 
to  the  stars  and  who  boasted  in  his  pride:  'Is  not 
this  Great  Babylon  that  I  have  built  for  the  house 
of  my  kingdom  by  the  might  of  my  power  and  for 
the  honor  of  my  majesty!' 

' '  Then  the  Curse  laid  its  finger  on  the  king. 

"It  was  Nebuchadnezzar,  who,  within  that  same 
hour,  heard  a  voice  warning  him  that  his  glory 
was  gone  from  him,  and  that  he  should  be  ex- 
pelled from  the  homes  of  men  in  disgust.  It  was 
Nebuchadnezzar  who,  in  that  same  hour,  fell  ill 
with  that  fearful  illness  which  doctors  now  call 
lycanthropy,  wherein  the  fevered  brain  of  a  man 
conceives  itself  to  be  that  of  an  animal.  It  was 
Nebuchadnezzar,  the  Great  King,  who  'was  driven 
from  men  and  did  eat  grass  as  oxen  and  his  body 
was  wet  with  the  dews  of  heaven  till  his  hairs 
were  grown  as  eagles'  feathers  and  his  nails  like 
birds'  claws.'  But  he  became  the  Great  King 
again  when  the  crisis  of  his  malady  passed,  and, 


THE  LAYING  OF  THE  CURSE     25 

after  his  cure,  he  never  again  boasted  of  his  power 
nor  regarded  himself  as  greater  than  other  men. 

"  Great  was  Nebuchadnezzar  and  greater  still 
was  Babylon,  yet,  greater  than  either  was  the 
shadow  of  the  Curse  of  Isaiah  that  hung  over  it, 
blacker  and  blacker. 

"When  Nebuchadnezzar  died,  his  son,  Evil- 
Merodach,  took  the  throne  and  reigned  for  two 
short  years.  He  soon  found,  as  many  a  son  of  a 
great  monarch  has  done,  that  there  is  nothing  in 
the  world  more  difficult  than  to  continue  another's 
greatness.  An  implicit  obedience  to  royal  orders 
which  had  been  secured  by  the  personal  renown 
of  the  Great  King  could  only  be  purchased  by  his 
successor.  Nebuchadnezzar's  greatness  had  cost 
his  country  untold  millions  of  treasure,  and,  like 
a  ball  started  rolling  down-hill,  the  expense  of 
maintaining  these  costly  palaces  and  temples,  of 
repairing  the  immense  and  complicated  irrigation 
projects,  commenced  to  swamp  the  nation.  Evil- 
Merodach  knew  no  way  to  stem  the  tide  save  by 
increasing  the  taxes  of  the  people  and  enlarging 
the  tribute  upon  the  surrounding  nations.  This 
policy  gave  rise  to  civil  conspiracies  at  home  and 
revolts  abroad.  Upon  the  death  of  Evil-Mero- 
dach  several  usurpers  sought  the  throne  of  Baby- 


26       WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

Ion.  Political  misrule  wrenched  the  city  in  sun- 
der. Civil  war  emptied  the  treasuries  which 
should  have  been  devoted  to  holding  the  empire 
together. 

"It  had  been  the  Medes  and  the  Persians  who 
had  aided  Nabopolassar  to  free  Babylon  from  the 
tyranny  of  Assyria.  Now  the  peoples  who  were 
subject  to  Babylon  called  on  the  aid  of  Media  and 
Persia  to  free  them  from  their  new  taskmasters. 

"The  Curse  still  held,  of  which  part  ran :  'Make 
bright  the  arrows,  gather  the  shields;  the  Lord 
hath  raised  up  the  spirit  of  the  kings  of  the 
Medes,  for  His  device  is  against  Babylon  to  de- 
stroy it. ' 

"By  this  time  Belshazzar,  son  of  the  usurper 
Nabu-nahid,  was  on  the  throne,  but  Belshazzar, 
brought  up  in  luxury  as  one  of  the  nobles  of  Baby- 
lon, had  neither  had  the  diplomatic  training  for  a 
king  nor  yet  the  camp  life  and  stern  administra- 
tion needed  for  a  military  leader,  such  as  that  un- 
der which  Nebuchadnezzar  had  spent  his  early 
life.  Caught  in  the  vicious  belief  which  demands 
extravagance  lest  economy  be  regarded  as  a  sign 
of  weakness,  Belshazzar  not  only  made  the  mis- 
take of  raising  the  taxes  still  higher,  not  only 
added  to  that  the  error  of  levying  higher  tributes 


THE  LAYING  OF  THE  CURSE     27 

from  the  surrounding  tribes,  but  he  also  made  an 
enemy  of  Cyrus  the  Great,  King  of  Persia. 

"  Either  Belshazzar  ignored  or  he  had  forgotten 
that  the  Curse  named  Cyrus  as  one  of  the  prin- 
cipal agents  for  the  destruction  of  Babylon:  'To 
Cyrus,  whose  right  hand  I  have  holden,  to  subdue 
nations  before  him,  and  I  will  loose  the  loins  of 
kings  to  open  before  him  the  two-leaved  gates, 
and  the  gates  shall  not  be  shut.' 

' '  Then,  David,  came  that  night,  one  of  the  most 
dramatic  in  history,  one  of  the  strangest  in  the 
history  of  war,  the  night  when  Babylon  was  taken. 
That  night,  in  the  midst  of  her  pomp  and  glory,  the 
finger  of  the  Curse  touched  the  empire  of  Babylon 
and  blasted  it.  There,  David, ' '  and  the  old  archas- 
ologist  pointed  with  his  finger,  "is  the  mound  be- 
neath the  dust  of  which  lie  the  scattered  bricks 
and  ruined  walls  of  Belshazzar 's  Palace.  On  the 
very  spot  where  that  jackal  is  now  howling  dis- 
mally, the  famous  feast  was  held  on  the  night 
which  turned  into  that  night  of  terror." 

And,  taking  from  his  pocket  a  small  edition  of 
the  Old  Testament,  the  old  scholar  read  the  story 
of  a  night  before  which  even  St.  Bartholomew's 
Eve  pales  in  horror : 

"Belshazzar  the  king  made  a  great  feast  to  a 


28       WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

thousand  of  his  lords  and  drank  wine  before  the 
thousand.  Belshazzar,  while  he  tasted  the  wine, 
commanded  that  there  be  brought  the  golden  and 
silver  vessels  which  Nebuchadnezzar  had  taken 
out  of  the  Temple  which  was  in  Jerusalem,  and 
the  king  and  his  princes  drank  in  them.  They 
drank  wine  and  praised  the  gods  of  gold  and  of 
silver,  of  brass,  of  iron,  of  wood,  and  of  stone. 

"In  the  same  hour  came  forth  the  fingers  of  a 
man's  hand  and  wrote  over  against  the  candle- 
stick upon  the  plaster  of  the  wall  of  the  king's 
palace  and  the  king  saw  the  part  of  the  hand  that 
wrote. 

"Then  the  king's  countenance  was  changed  and 
his  thoughts  troubled  him,  so  that  the  joints  of 
his  loins  were  loosed  and  his  knees  smote  one 
against  the  other.  The  king  cried  aloud  to  bring 
in  the  astrologers,  the  Chaldeans  and  the  sooth- 
sayers. And  the  king  spake  and  said  unto  the 
wise  men  of  Babylon: 

"  *  Whoever  shall  read  this  writing  and  show 
me  the  interpretation  thereof,  shall  be  clothed 
with  scarlet  and  have  a  chain  of  gold  about  his 
neck  and  shall  be  the  third  ruler  in  the  kingdom. ' 

"Then  came  in  all  the  king's  wise  men,  but 
they  could  not  read  the  writing,  nor  show  to  the 


THE  LAYING  OF  THE  CURSE     29 

king  the  interpretation  thereof.  Then  was  King 
Belshazzar  greatly  troubled  and  his  countenance 
was  changed  in  him.  His  lords,  also,  were  aston- 
ished. 

"Now  the  queen,  by  reason  of  the  word  of  the 
king  and  of  his  lords,  came  into  the  banquet  house, 
and  the  queen  spake  and  said: 

"  '0  King,  live  forever!  Let  not  thy  thoughts 
trouble  thee,  nor  let  they  countenance  be  changed. 
There  is  a  man  in  thy  kingdom  in  whom  is  the 
spirit  of  the  holy  gods,  and,  in  the  days  of  thy 
father  (predecessor),  light  and  understanding 
and  wisdom  like  the  wisdom  of  the  gods  was  found 
in  him;  whom  the  king  Nebuchadnezzar  made 
master  of  the  magicians,  astrologers,  Chaldeans 
and  the  soothsayers  .  .  .  now  let  Daniel  be  called 
and  he  will  show  the  interpretation. ' 

"Then  was  Daniel  brought  in  before  the  king. 

"And  the  king  spake  and  said  unto  Daniel: 

"  'Art  thou  that  Daniel,  which  art  of  the  chil- 
dren of  the  captivity  of  Judah,  which  the  king,  my 
father  (predecessor)  brought  out  of  Jewry?  I 
have  even  heard  of  thee,  that  the  spirit  of  the 
gods  is  in  thee,  and  that  light  and  understanding 
and  excellent  wisdom  are  found  in  thee.  And 
now  the  wise  men,  the  astrologers,  have  been 


30 

brought  in  before  me  that  they  should  read  this 
writing  and  make  known  unto  me  the  interpreta- 
tion thereof,  but  they  could  not  show  the  interpre- 
tation of  the  thing.  And  I  have  heard  of  thee  that 
thou  canst  make  interpretations  and  dissolve 
doubts.  Now,  if  thou  canst  read  the  writing  and 
make  known  unto  me  the  interpretation  thereof, 
thou  shalt  be  clothec  with  scarlet  and  have  a  chain 
of  gold  about  thy  neck  and  shalt  be  the  third  ruler 
in  the  kingdom. ' 

' '  Then  Daniel  answered  and  said  unto  the  king : 

"  'Let  thy  gifts  be  to  thyself  and  give  thy  re- 
wards to  another ! 

' '  *  Yet  I  will  read  the  writing  unto  the  king  and 
make  known  unto  him  the  interpretation. 

"<0  thou  King!  The  Most  High  God  gave 
Nebuchadnezzar  a  kingdom,  and  majesty,  and 
glory,  and  honor.  And,  for  the  majesty  that  He 
gave  him,  all  peoples,  nations  and  languages 
trembled  and  feared  before  him;  whom  he  would 
he  slew,  and  whom  he  would  he  kept  alive ;  whom 
he  would  he  set  up,  and  whom  he  would  he  put 
down. 

"  'But  when  his  heart  was  lifted  up  and  his 
mind  hardened  with  pride,  he  was  deposed  from 
his  kingly  throne  and  they  took  his  glory  from 


From  "Sphere":  U.  S.  Copyright,  N.  Y.  Herald  Co. 
0r  BIRD-MAN  AND  BEDOUIN. 

The  "ship  of  the  desert"  has  no  chance  against  the  ship  of  the  sky, 
while  musket  or  scimitar  is  powerless  against  bomb  and  machine-gun. 


THE  LAYING  OF  THE  CURSE     31 

him.  He  was  driven  from  the  sons  of  men  and 
his  heart  was  made  like  the  wild  beasts  and  his 
dwelling  was  with  the  wild  asses;  they  fed  him 
with  grass  like  oxen  and  his  body  was  wet  with 
the  dews  of  heaven,  till  he  knew  that  the  Most 
High  God  mleth  in  the  kingdom  of  men  and  that 
He  appointeth  over  it  whomsoever  He  will. 

"  'But  thou,  0  Belshazzar,  hast  not  humbled 
thine  heart,  though  thou  knewest  all  this,  but  hast 
lifted  thyself  against  the  Lord  of  Heaven,  and 
they  have  brought  the  vessels  of  His  house  before 
thee.  Thou  and  thy  lords  have  drunk  wine  in 
them  and  thou  hast  praised  the  gods  of  silver  and 
gold,  of  brass,  iron,  wood,  and  stone,  which  see 
not,  nor  hear,  nor  know.  .  .  .  Then  was  the  part 
of  the  hand  sent  by  Him  and  this  writing  was 
written. 

"  'And  this  is  the  writing  that  was  written — 
Mene,  Mene,  Tekel,  Upharsin. 

"  'This  is  the  interpretation  of  the  thing: 

"  'Mene — God  hath  numbered  thy  kingdom  and 
finished  it ! 

' '  '  Tekel — Thou  art  weighed  in  the  balance  and 
found  wanting! 

"  'Peres  (Upharsin) — Thy  kingdom  is  divided 
and  given  to  the  Medes  and  Persians ! ' 


32 

''And,  David,"  the  old  scholar  continued,  ''even 
at  the  very  time  that  the  bold  Hebrew  prince  was 
standing  before  the  king  announcing  the  destruc- 
tion of  his  kingdom,  by  secret  tunnels  and  pass- 
ages under  the  palace  and  throughout  the  city, 
the  soldiers  of  Cyrus  were  creeping  in.  By  strat- 
agem and  treachery,  the  waters  of  the  Euphrates 
had  been  diverted  from  their  main  channels,  and 
up  the  oozy  bottoms,  into  the  water-gates  the  in- 
vaders came.1 

"True  to  his  oath,  Belshazzar  called  for  the 
robe  of  scarlet  and  the  chain  of  gold,  but,  before 
the  conclusion  of  the  feast,  the  Persian  soldiers 
rushed  in.  Grim  and  great  was  the  slaughter  in 
that  banquet-hall,  and  in  that  night  was  Belshaz- 
zar slain.  The  Persians  commenced  an  indis- 
criminate massacre  which  lasted  all  the  next  day, 
and  so  great  was  the  rage  of  the  Persian  soldiery 
that  Cyrus  issued  an  edict  to  the  inhabitants  that 
they  should  keep  to  their  houses  and  bade  his 
cavalry  slay  only  those  who  were  found  out  on 
the  streets.  Just  eighty-eight  years  of  glory  and 
of  pride  had  been  permitted  to  Babylon.  The 
Golden  City  was  fallen  and  her  people  slain  by  the 

i  The  author  is  aware  that  the  Annals-Cylinder  gives  a  different 
version,  but  he  does  not  consider  that  it  contradicts  the  version  in 
the  Book  of  Daniel. 


THE  LAYING  OF  THE  CURSE     33 

sword.  Thrown  from  her  high  estate,  Babylon 
became  a  Persian  province. 

1  'The  Curse  was  falling! 

"But  a  great  and  populous  city,  my  boy,  favor- 
ably situated  for  trade  and  commerce,  which,  for 
nearly  a  century,  had  been  the  center  of  the  an- 
cient world,  could  not  become  an  utter  desolation 
in  a  day,  merely  because  it  had  been  conquered. 
Babylon  had  changed  rulers  many  times  before. 
There  was  much  of  the  Curse  still  to  be  fulfilled. 

"The  Babylonians,  proud  of  their  ancient  fame, 
and  with  military  leaders  among  the  nobles  who 
belonged  to  the  old  fighting  Assyrian  stock,  re- 
fused to  remain  supine  under  the  heel  of  Cyrus. 
They  revolted  against  the  Persian  dominion, 
drove  out  the  invaders  and  secured  their  inde- 
pendence anew.  A  pretender,  calling  himself 
Nebuchadnezzar  II,  took  the  throne.  Darius,  the 
ninth  Achemenian  king  of  Persia,  and  son  of 
Hytaspes,  set  out  to  retake  the  city. 

"Darius  was  a  famous  warrior,  but  thanks  to 
the  strength  of  its  massive  walls,  Babylon  resisted 
the  siege  for  twenty  months  before  the  Persians 
were  victorious.  Then,  in  order  that  the  Baby- 
lonians might  not  be  tempted  to  revolt  again, 
Darius  ordered  his  army  to  destroy  the  famous 


34       WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

walls  which  had  been  the  city's  pride.  Just  as 
Cyrus  nad  robbed  Babylon  of  her  strength  as  a 
royal  center,  so  Darius  took  away  her  renown  as 
a  fortified  place.  He  was  eager  to  plunder  the 
city,  but  was  afraid  of  provoking  the  people. 

"The  Curse  was  thus  twice  fallen,  but  Babylon 
still  remained  a  powerful  city,  with  enormous 
wealth  and  treasure  in  her  temples.  The  great 
Temple  of  Bel  or  Tower  of  Babel  remained  un- 
touched, together  with  its  great  golden  statue, 
the  value  of  which  was  said  to  be  equal  to  fifty 
years  of  tribute  from  one  of  the  richest  provinces. 

"But  empires  come  and  go,  and  victory  never 
rests  long  in  the  hands  of  an  autocratic  power. 
Cyrus  had  made  Persia  the  mistress  of  the  world. 
Yet  on  the  isles  and  the  mainland  of  Greece  there 
was  developing  a  power  which  should  give  the 
world  a  new  civilization,  a  power  which  dared 
even  to  defy  the  hosts  of  Persia. 

"True,  Greece  was  far  outside  the  boundaries 
of  Persia,  but  Xerxes,  son  of  Darius,  whose  capi- 
tal was  at  Persepolis,  deemed  himself  King  of 
Kings,  and  could  not  endure  that  any  people 
should  defy  him.  This  was  the  same  Xerxes 
(Ahasuerus)  who  married  the  Jewish  maiden 
Esther,  and  made  her  his  queen.  Twenty-nine 


THE  LAYING  OF  THE  CURSE     35 

years  after  the  destruction  of  the  wall  of  Babylon 
by  Darius,  the  Persians,  under  Xerxes,  marched 
against  the  Greeks.  The  campaign  was  disas- 
trous and  the  Persians  retreated  to  their  own 
country,  vanquished  and  impoverished.  In  order 
to  replenish  his  exhausted  coffers,  Xerxes  sent  a 
powerful  force  to  Babylon,  plundered  the  city,  de- 
molished the  Temple  of  Bel,  carried  off  the  gods 
of  gold  and  the  treasures  of  that  marvelous 
structure. 

"Thus  came  about  the  words  of  the  Curse  which 
said:  'Babylon  is  taken,  Bel  is  confounded, 
Merodach  is  broken  in  pieces;  her  idols  are  con- 
founded, her  images  are  broken  in  pieces.' 

"The  royal  glory  of  Babylon  was  gone,  her 
great  walls  were  thrown  down,  her  gods  disgraced 
and  her  wealth  taken  away,  yet  the  Curse  was  not 
all  fulfilled. 

"The  Persian  Empire  had  been  great,  greater 
even  than  the  Babylonian.  The  conquest  of 
Lydia  had  placed  all  the  wealth  of  CKBSUS  in 
Persian  hands,  the  conquests  in  India  had  given 
them  control  of  Asia's  vast  resources.  Yet  the 
Persians  had  failed  to  defeat  the  Greeks  and  it 
was  from  north  of  Greece  that  there  came  upon 
the  scene  one  of  the  most  extraordinary  generals 


36       WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

of  history,  the  Napoleon  of  the  ancient  world. 

"  Alexander  the  Great  of  Macedon,  with  a  wave 
of  conquest  that  was  like  a  living  fire,  swept  the 
known  world  from  north  to  south,  from  east  to 
west.  He  it  was  who  wept  'that  there  were  no 
worlds  left  to  conquer.'  He  carried  his  victories 
from  the  Balkan  States  to  India,  and  Babylon 
came  within  his  grasp. 

"As  great  a  strategist  as  he  was  a  warrior, 
Alexander  saw  at  once  the  importance  of  Babylon, 
situated  upon  what  had  once  been  a  fertile  plain, 
upon  the  main  highway  between  the  east  and  west. 
He  realized  that  it  was  ideally  placed  for  the 
capital  of  a  great  empire,  and  he  determined  to 
make  Babylon  even  greater  than  it  had  been 
in  the  famous  days  of  Nebuchadnezzar.  Ke- 
membering  that  the  strength  of  the  city  had  lain  in 
its  walls — for  being  a  city  of  the  plains  there  was 
no  natural  strength  in  its  position — he  set  thou- 
sands of  his  soldiers  and  tens  of  thousands  of 
prisoners  and  slaves  to  the  task  of  clearing  away 
the  ruins  of  the  walls  which  Darius  had  thrown 
down. 

"But  there  are  things  so  vast  as  almost  to  be 
beyond  human  power.  Though  Alexander  has- 
tened his  return  from  India  in  order  personally  to 


THE  LAYING  OF  THE  CURSE     37 

supervise  the  work  of  rebuilding  Babylon,  he  was 
compelled  to  admit  that  a  whole  summer's  work 
produced  so  little  impression  upon  the  ruins  that 
the  project  of  rebuilding  the  wall  had  to  be  aban- 
doned. Babylon's  riches  and  power  had  been  due 
largely  to  her  irrigation  canals,  but  Alexander  the 
Great,  with  all  his  power,  could  not  restore  what 
Time  had  commenced  to  efface.  He  fought 
harder  to  rebuild  Babylon  than  he  had  done  to 
conquer  the  world,  but  he  stayed  in  Babylon  not 
to  conquer,  but  to  die.  The  waters  of  the  Eu- 
phrates, no  longer  controlled,  had  spread  into 
malaria-breeding  marshes. 

"The  Curse  still  hung  over  Babylon.  On  the 
scene  of  his  triumph,  in  the  midst  of  his  labors, 
before  ever  a  section  of  the  wall  was  built  or  a 
new  palace  erected,  Alexander  was  smitten  with  a 
fever  and  died  in  his  thirty-second  year. 

"Thus  dying  young,  he  founded  no  dynasty. 
.  There  was  no  one  to  consolidate  by  the  arts  of 
peace  the  empire  which  had  been  gained  by  the 
sword.  Upon  the  conqueror's  death,  his  vast 
possessions  fell  to  pieces.  His  generals  quar- 
reled among  themselves  for  the  partition  of  the 
empire  and  Mesopotamia  was  seized  by  Seleucus 
Nicator.  That  rude  soldier  and  captain  of  war 


had  little  longing  for  the  luxury  of  Babylon,  and 
was  wise  enough  to  see  that  he  could  not  hope  to 
succeed  where  his  great  master  had  failed.  The 
immensity  of  the  task  of  rebuilding  Babylon  had 
staggered  Alexander,  it  frightened  Seleucus.  He 
abandoned  Babylon  and  built  a  new  city  at  Se- 
leucia,  a  day's  march  away. 

"Heavier  and  heavier  grew  the  Curse.  With 
the  royal  capital  entirely  removed,  the  court,  the 
nobles,  and  the  merchant  princes  followed  the 
king  to  the  new  capital,  and  Babylon  fell  still 
further  from  her  high  estate.  All  the  leading 
citizens  of  Babylon  were  gone.  She  was  no  longer 
even  the  capital  of  a  province,  but  a  half -ruined, 
half-abandoned  city,  which  even  the  caravans 
shunned  in  favor  of  the  capital.  Trade  ebbed 
away,  the  streets  grew  more  and  more  deserted, 
until  only  a  few  Babylonian  patriots  and  the  un- 
changing priests  made  their  homes  in  the  empty 
and  echoing  houses,  falling  into  dust  on  every 
side. 

"  Built  as  they  were  of  sun-baked  bricks,  the 
mighty  works  of  Nebuchadezzar  needed  constant 
repair.  The  throwing  down  of  the  walls  had 
choked  the  great  moat  which  was  an  integral  part 
of  the  complicated  system  of  irrigation  canals  that 


THE  LAYING  OF  THE  CURSE     39 

watered  the  plain.  The  dams  by  which  the  great 
reservoirs  were  made  to  hold  the  spring  floods, 
broke  down  under  neglect.  Lacking  the  royal 
power  to  order  hundreds  of  slaves  to  the  task,  the 
few  remaining  people  of  Babylon  could  not  re- 
build the  dams  nor  clear  away  the  ditches  which 
had  been  choked  up.  The  torrential  rains  of  the 
spring  and  the  parching  winds  of  the  desert  at 
one  time  broke  down  the  banks  and  at  another 
time  filled  up  the  channels.  The  fields  that  had 
been  covered  with  waving  grain  now  became 
parched  and  dry,  the  low-lands,  which  had  been 
drained  with  ditches,  now  became  reedy  marsh. 

"Under  the  Curse,  Babylon  was  beginning  to 
become  but  'desolate  heaps.' 

"The  descendants  of  Seleucus,  finding  that  the 
Mediterranean  coasts  were  more  important  than 
the  Euphrates,  owing  to  the  westward  movement 
of  civilization,  moved  their  capital  from  Seleucia 
to  Antioch,  and  Babylon  was  left  still  farther 
from  the  hum  of  the  world's  affairs.  But  the 
Seleucidse,  like  those  who  had  gone  before  them, 
were  doomed  to  fall.  Arsaces,  the  founder,  and 
Mithridates,  the  first  king,  founded  the  Parthian 
Empire,  and  a  new  capital  was  built  at  Ecbatana. 

"Yet,   distant  though  Babylon  was  from  the 


40       WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

march  of  the  world 's  events,  it  could  never  be 
forgotten.  The  Parthian  kings,  who  lived  in  al- 
ternate vassalage  and  hostility  to  Eome,  deter- 
mined to  show  their  hold  over  Mesopotamia,  and 
as  a  symbol  of  their  power,  they  turned  the  en- 
closure of  Babylon  into  a  hunting  park,  and  spent 
large  sums  for  the  gathering  in  of  wild  animals 
from  all  parts  of  the  world  with  which  to  stock 
their  royal  game  preserve. 

"As  the  Curse  had  foretold,  'wild  beasts  of  the 
deserts'  and  'wild  beasts  of  the  islands'  began  to 
make  their  home  there. 

"Then  came  the  power  of  Rome.  Though  her 
wars  with  Parthia  lasted  for  centuries  and 
though  Antony  once  suffered  a  terrible  defeat, 
sooner  or  later  the  Roman  legions  were  bound  to 
conquer.  The  Emperor  Trajan  assumed  the 
added  title  of  King  of  Parthia,  and  a  Roman  army 
under  Cassius  razed  Seleucia  to  the  ground. 
What  is  Seleucia  now?  It  is  but  a  mound,  my 
boy,  a  mere  heap  of  dust,  as  yet  unexcavated,  un- 
explored. Nothing  is  to  be  seen  but  an  undu- 
lating heap  of  sand.  It  may  contain  great 
treasure,  it  may  hold  secrets  that  will  unlock  many 
of  the  mysteries  of  history.  What  lies  under  that 
sand?  No  one  knows. 


From  "Sphere":    U.  S.  Copyright,  tf.  Y.  Herald  Co. 
BOYS  OF  THE  DESERT. 


THE  LAYING  OF  THE  CURSE     41 

4 'During  the  Koman  and  Parthian  wars,  the 
desert  city  of  Palmyra  secured  a  short  but  bril- 
liant fame.  A  purely  Arab  city,  proud  of  her 
merchant  princes,  she  controlled  nearly  all  the 
trade  of  the  northern  deserts.  All  caravans 
passed  through  her  gates  and  this  deflected  still 
further  the  world's  attention  from  the  once 
Golden  City  on  the  Euphrates.  But,  when  Queen 
Zenobia  felt  herself  strong  enough  to  defy  Rome, 
Palmyra  met  with  the  same  fate  as  many  cities 
of  the  East,  and  now  a  forest  of  columns  in  the 
sand  is  all  that  tells  of  the  rich,  fierce  life  that 
once  flourished  there. 

"  'Centuries  passed,'  "  the  old  scholar  con- 
tinued, reading  a  passage  copied  into  one  of  his 
note-books,1  "  'Borne  rose  to  preeminence  and  de- 
clined, while  the  fires  that  the  prophet  Zoroaster 
had  kindled  in  the  hearts  of  the  Persian  peoples, 
kept  alive  in  them  a  consciousness  of  race  and  a 
will  to  live.  It  was  in  the  third  century  of  the 
Chrisitian  era  that  the  family  of  Sassanid  arose  to 
the  east  of  the  Mesopotamian  Eivers,  and,  by  an 
inspired  revival  among  the  Persian  tribes,  suc- 
ceeded in  establishing  the  Sassanian  Empire. 

i  "The  War  in  the  Cradle  of  the  World,"  by  Eleanor  Franklin 
Egan  ( Harper  &  Bros. ) . 


42 

11  'For  a  capital,  the  Sassanian  kings  built  the 
city  of  Ctesiphon  on  the  forever  strategically 
valuable  shortest  highway  between  the  two  rivers, 
immediately  opposite  the  fallen  city  of  Seleucia. 
The  Arch  of  Ctesiphon  is  all  that  is  left  of  the 
great  audience-hall  of  the  emperor  Khusrau 
(Chosroes).  It  dates  from  about  the  sixth  cen- 
tury. It  is  one  of  the  largest  and  most  extraor- 
dinary ruins  in  the  world  and  is  so  massively 
and  amazingly  built  that  one  looks  around  and 
about  over  the  naked  desert  in  the  midst  of  which 
it  stands  and  wonders  how  a  city  whose  builders 
were  so  great  could  possibly  disappear  from  the 
face  of  the  earth.  .  .  .  The  Sassanian  Empire  was 
overthrown  in  the  middle  of  the  seventh  century 
by  the  irresistible  cohorts  of  the  Caliphs,  and 
Bagdad,  in  its  turn,  came  to  be  founded  as  a  great 
capital  in  the  Cradle  of  the  World. ' 

"Yet,  each  in  their  turn,  Persepolis,  Seleucia, 
Ecbatana,  Eome,  Ctesiphon  and  Bagdad,  each  in 
their  turn,  carried  on  from  place  to  place  and 
from  century  to  century,  the  treasures  that  had 
been  amassed  by  Nebuchadnezzar  in  Babylon,  the 
Golden  City.  And,  century  by  century,  the  floods 
beat  upon  the  ruins  of  Babylon,  and  the  sand  of 
the  desert  blew  upon  Babylon,  <and  the  armies  of 


THE  LAYING  OF  THE  CURSE     43 

Time  trampled  upon  Babylon,  till  it  disintegrated 
into  dust  and  was  buried  in  oblivion. 

"The  Empire  of  the  Caliphs  is  gone  and  the 
Turk  has  come.  The  time  is  ripe  for  the  Ottoman 
Empire  to  fall,  but  Turkey,  from  first  to  last,  has 
ignored  Babylon  and  left  Mesopotamia  alone. 
Turkish  power  has  never  held  this  land,  save  as  a 
tributary  state,  and  the  power  of  the  Crescent  is 
wearing  very  thin.  What  country  next  will  be  the 
master  of  Babylon  is  a  mystery  held  in  the  hands 
of  the  future.  But  the  Curse  is  finished,  fulfilled 
to  the  uttermost.  Babylon  has  become  desolate 
and  the  wild  beasts  alone  make  their  homes  in  it. ' ' 

Dark  had  fallen  and  the  stars  were  beginning 
to  shine  as  the  archaeologist  finished.  He  was 
about  to  rise  and  give  the  order  to  advance  to  the 
camp,  when  the  Arab  stayed  him  with  a  gesture. 

" Forget  not  the  old  prophecy,"  he  said,  and 
quoted  anew: 

"  'When  the  wings  of  the  morning  fly  from  the 
west  to  the  east,  then  shall  the  Two  Rivers  bow 
to  the  will  of  men  and  the  fields  of  Babylon  be 
green  again.' 

"That's  the  same  as  saying  never,"  retorted 
David.  "The  sun  isn't  going  to  start  to  rise  in 
the  west,  just  to  make  good  an  old  prophecy ! ' ' 


44       WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

" Don't  be  too  sure,  my  boy,"  warned  the  old 
scholar.  "You  see  here,  in  the  darkness,  the 
ruins  of  Golden  Babylon.  The  Curse  is  fully 
come.  The  Arab,  who  is  not  afraid  of  the  most 
inhospitable  desert,  will  not  pitch  his  tent  here,  the 
shepherd  will  not  fold  his  sheep  here,  the  ruins 
are  full  of  wild  beasts  and  all  the  homes  are  deso- 
late and  solitary.  In  the  night  it  is  given  up  to 
creatures  of  the  darkness  and  the  Arabs  believe 
that  specters  move  about  the  mounds;  by  day  it 
is  abandoned  to  burning  sun  and  the  dust-clouds. 

"Empires  come  and  go,  centuries  come  and  go. 
The  roar  of  life  fills  the  ear  in  the  cities  of  the 
West,  but  the  silence  of  mystery  broods  over  the 
cities  of  the  East. 

"You're  an  American,  David,  my  boy,  and  you 
can't  escape  your  racial  inheritance  which  makes 
you  ready  to  disbelieve  everything.  But,  if 
you've  a  grain  of  sense,  don't  forget  that  there 
are  many  things  in  this  world  which  cannot  be 
explained.  The  world  is  not  a  problem  in  arith- 
metic, it  is  full  of  mystery  and  wonder.  Eemem- 
ber  Babylon  and  the  never-lifted  curse !" 

"Yet  the  Curse  will  lift,"  said  Ibrahim. 

"By  what  means?"  queried  the  archaeologist. 


"By  war,  O  man  of  Peace !"  the  Arab  answered. 
"War?" 

"War!     Only  by  war  can   the  wings   of  the 
morning  speed  from  the  west  to  the  east!" 


CHAPTER  II 

BLACK   TREACHERY 

As  they  rode  back  to  the  camp  among  the  dust- 
choked  ditches  that  encircle  Babylon,  where  the 
temporary  quarters  of  the  expedition  had  been 
pitched,  the  archaeologist  drew  his  horse  close  be- 
side that  of  David,  and  said,  speaking  in  a  low 
tone  and  in  English : 

"Did  you  notice  how  Ibrahim  spoke  of  the 
war?" 

"Yes,  Father,"  answered  the  boy,  wondering 
what  was  coming. 

' '  That  means  trouble, ' '  the  old  scholar  declared, 
in  a  troubled  voice. 

"How?" 

"Have  you  ever  heard  an  Arab  tell  his  plans  be- 
fore he  was  ready  to  have  them  known?"  came 
the  retort.  "When  a  Bedouin  speaks  of  war,  you 
may  be  sure  that  war  is  not  far  away. ' ' 

"You  mean  the  Great  War  will  come  here?" 

"I'm  afraid  so,"  his  father  replied.  "When  I 

46 


BLACK  TREACHERY  47 

went  to  Bagdad  ten  days  ago,  I  heard  from  an 
Armenian  merchant  living  there  that  the  German 
attack  on  France  had  failed,  that  the  Kaiser  had 
been  defeated  and  thrown  back  at  the  River 
Marne  near  Paris,  that  the  Austrians  were  being 
heavily  punished  by  Russia  and  that  England  ab- 
solutely controlled  the  sea." 

1  'That  looks  as  if  the  war  were  over,  not  just 
beginning, ' '  commented  David. 

"I  don't  think  so,"  the  archaeologist  replied; 
"  rather  it  looks  to  me  like  a  long  war.  And,  un- 
less I  miss  my  guess,  the  secret  alliance  between 
Germany  and  Turkey  will  bring  the  Ottoman  Em- 
pire into  the  fray. ' ' 

"I  don't  see  where  that  will  hurt  us,"  said  the 
boy.  "The  United  States  isn't  going  to  get  into 
the  scrap,  anyway.  We're  neutral." 

"Yes,  but  in  the  Orient,  who  will  believe  it?" 
his  father  questioned.  "The  Arabs  class  all 
foreigners,  all  Europeans,  anyway,  as  Franji. 
And  if  once  the  desert  tribes  get  stirred  up  they 
won't  make  any  difference  between  Americans 
and  Europeans.  You  ought  to  know  that." 

"I  suppose  that's  so,"  agreed  the  boy  thought- 
fully. 

David  realized  the  danger  at  once.    From  the 


time  that  he  was  quite  a  little  shaver,  until  his 
eleventh  year,  the  boy  had  lived  either  in  Syria  or 
Mesopotamia,  his  father  being  continually  en- 
gaged in  supervising  the  work  of  excavating  the 
ancient  monuments  of  the  East  for  an  American 
Exploration  Fund.  Hence,  though  he  had  spent 
the  three  preceding  years  in  an  American  school 
in  the  small  town  in  the  Middle  West  where  his 
mother  lived,  her  health  having  been  broken  down 
by  several  years J  residence  in  the  East,  David  not 
only  knew  Arabic  as  well  as  he  did  English,  but 
he  also  understood  the  Arab  temperament  as  well 
as  or  even  better  than  he  did  that  of  his  own  peo- 
ple. 

"Shall  we  have  to  chuck  up  the  work?"  he 
asked. 

"I  will  not  abandon  my  excavation  until  I  am 
absolutely  compelled,"  the  archaeologist  replied 
grimly,  "though  the  influence  of  Uncle  Sam 
amounts  to  very  little  as  far  away  from  home  as 
this.  That 's  where  the  English,  French,  and  Ger- 
man Exploration  Funds  have  had  a  great  advan- 
tage over  us.  The  German  camp,  working  at  the 
farther  end  of  the  ruins,  has  many  opportunities 
denied  to  us.  The  Turk  is  accustomed  to  dealing 
with  the  Great  Powers  of  Europe,  but  he  hardly 


BLACK  TREACHERY  49 

knows  anything  about  America.  However,  we'll 
hope  for  the  best.  But  I  tell  you  frankly,  David, 
I  have  my  fears.  An  Arab  never  speaks  idly. ' ' 

Events  soon  proved  the  archaeologist  to  be  in 
the  right.  Within  three  or  four  days,  the  labor- 
ers engaged  in  the  excavation  began  to  grow  rest- 
less. Two  disappeared  one  morning,  the  next  day 
three  were  gone.  They  did  not  even  wait  to  ask 
for  their  wages  due,  a  very  grave  sign. 

Three  days  later  Ibrahim  came  early  to  the 
headquarters'  tent,  just  as  the  start  was  to  be 
made  for  the  excavations,  and,  seating  himself 
upon  the  ground,  after  the  customary  salutations, 
he  began : 

' <  I  have  been  told,  0  Man  of  Peace,  that  the  sea 
is  as  wide  as  the  desert." 

"It  is  wider,"  the  archaeologist  replied. 

"And  your  country  is  upon  the  other  side  of  the 
sea?" 

"It  is." 

"It  will  be  a  long  journey,"  the  Bedouin  re- 
marked and  lapsed  into  silence. 

When  he  had  left  the  archaeoloist  turned  to 
David. 

"This  is  a  definite  warning,"  he  said.  "Ibra- 
him is  our  friend.  I  only  hope  that  I  have  not 


50       WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

waited  too  long.  You  must  leave  here  at  once, 
David.  You  know  the  way  to  Basra  and  the  Brit- 
ish authorities  will  look  after  you  there.  1 11  give 
you  a  letter  to  an  American  merchant  I  know  in 
Basra,  Ferguson  by  name.  He  has  great  influence 
in  the  place.  You  had  better  be  ready  to  start  to- 
morrow. ' ' 

"But  you,  Father?"  the  boy  queried,  "what 
will  you  do?" 

"I  shall  stay  here,"  the  archaeologist  replied. 
"If  I  am  compelled  to  leave,  of  course  I  shall  have 
to  go  also,  but  I  won't  leave  important  excavation 
work  for  a  mere  rumor.  That  does  not  justify 
me,  however,  in  keeping  you  here." 

"I'll  stay,  too,"  said  the  boy,  "I  don't  want  to 
clear  out  just  because  there's  danger." 

"You  will  do  as  you  are  told,"  the  archaeologist 
returned  quietly,  and  though  David 's  recent  three 
years  in  America  had  made  him  resentful  of  dis- 
cipline and  inclined  to  his  own  opinion,  he  knew 
that  there  was  no  gainsaying  his  father's  order. 
The  old  scholar  had  commanded  men  for  many 
years,  and  though  he  was  gentle,  he  did  not  allow 
his  authority  to  be  questioned. 

On  arriving  at  the  ruins  of  Babylon,  ready  for 
the  day's  work,  David  noticed  the  workmen  gath- 


BLACK  TREACHERY  51 

ered  around  the  figure  of  a  dervish,  whose  short 
spear,  ornamented  with  red  and  green  ribbons 
round  the  base  of  the  blade,  stuck  in  the  ground 
near  him,  told  of  his  calling.  He  wore  only  a 
white,  flowing  robe  with  a  leather  belt.  In  his 
hand  was  the  Mehjane,  a  short  rod  of  almond 
wood,  which  is  said  to  have  the  power  of  healing 
the  sick  and  driving  away  serpents. 

David  unobservedly  made  his  way  to  the  edge 
of  the  group. 

"It  is  known  to  all  believers,"  the  dervish  was 
saying,  "that  when  Allah  created  the  first  angel, 
he  was  -so  enormous  that  he  had  70,000  heads,  and 
each  head  had  70,000  faces,  each  face  70,000 
mouths  and  each  mouth  70,000  tongues.  Each 
tongue  could  speak  70,000  languages,  and  every 
time  that  the  name  of  Allah  was  pronounced  by 
one  of  these  tongues,  a  new  angel  was  created. 
Thus  were  the  heavens  peopled. 

"Then  Allah  created  Adam,  who  was  as  tall  as 
a  palm-tree,  and  Eve,  who  was  very  beautiful. 
He  ordered  the  angels  to  worship  Adam,  but  the 
Jan,  the  children  of  the  angel  Eblis,  refused,  so 
they  were  turned  out  of  heaven  and  made  to  dwell 
on  the  islands  of  the  earth,  with  the  Franji  and 
other  unbelievers. ' ' 


52        WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

David  stiffened  in  his  attention.  At  the  begin- 
ning he  had  thought  the  dervish  to  be  merely  re- 
citing one  of  the  many  stories  of  the  Koran.  But 
David  had  heard  many  of  the  stories  from  the 
Koran,  indeed,  he  knew  the  sacred  book  of  the 
Mohammedans  even  better  than  he  did  the  Bible, 
and  he  realized  that  this  reference  to  the  "Franji" 
or  foreigners,  denoted  that  the  dervish  had  an- 
other motive.  The  tale,  then,  had  a  political  and 
probably  a  sinister  purpose.  The  dervish  con- 
tinued : 

"The  Jan  were  put  under  the  control  of  Sol- 
omon. Peace  be  to  him !  They  were  ordered  by 
Allah  to  work  under  the  orders  of  the  Great 
King's  seal,  and  how  could  Solomon  have  built 
the  temple,  the  pillars,  the  molten  sea,  and  his 
palaces  without  their  help?  So  severe  was  he 
that  when  Azrael,  the  Angel  of  Death,  cut  short 
Solomon's  days,  as  he  was  sitting  leaning  on  his 
stick,  he  remained  in  the  position  of  an  overseer 
for  forty  years,  although  he  was  dead,  and  had 
not  a  worm  gnawed  through  the  stick,  causing  the 
dead  king  to  fall  down,  the  Jan  would  never  have 
known  what  had  happened  and  would  have  con- 
tinued their  work. 

"When  'Esa  (Jesus)  son  of  Mary — to  Whom 


BLACK  TREACHERY  53 

be  prayers  and  peace — was  on  earth,  the  Jan  in  a 
group  of  seven  took  possession  of  Mary  Magda- 
lene and  were  driven  out  by  Him.  Of  course, 
some  were  converted  to  Judaism,  others  to 
Christianity,  and  when  the  Prophet  (Mohammed) 
— to  whom  be  prayers  and  peace — was  reading  the 
Koran  at  daybreak  under  a  palm-tree,  seven  Jew- 
ish Jan  became  Moslems.  They  lived  here  for 
many  years,  in  ruined  Babylon  and  in  Nineveh. 
By  and  by  they  approached  and  followed  in  the 
traces  of  mankind.  They  tried  to  enter  Paradise 
again,  but  were  repelled  by  falling  stars,  which 
we  still  see.1 

"But  the  Jan  are  growing  fat  and  wicked  in 
these  days  and  those  who  inhabited  the  islands  of 
the  sea  are  daring  the  vengeance  of  Allah  and 
coming  into  the  lands  of  the  True  Believers. 
They  are  inspiring  men  to  dig  in  the  graves  of  the 
men  of  old,  in  order  that  spirits  of  power  which 
have  been  long  buried  by  the  will  of  Allah  should 
join  their  wicked  power/' 

The  dervish  struck  his  foot  upon  the  ground. 

"Why  was  this  city  of  old  fallen  into  ruins?  It 
was  the  will  of  Allah !  Why  should  the  graves  of 

i"The  Immovable  East,"  by  Philip  J.   Baldensperger    (Small, 
Maynard  &  Co. ) . 


54       WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

houses  and  of  the  places  of  the  dead  be  desecrated 
by  the  Franji?  It  is  because  the  Jan  are  defying 
the  will  of  Allah !  Already  the  anger  of  the  Sul- 
tan, the  servant  of  the  Prophet,  is  being  stirred 
up  against  the  abominations  of  the  Franji,  who, 
by  sorceries  and  pretense  of  knowledge  make  be- 
lieve to  read  the  writing  of  these  ancient  cities 
and  to  proVe  thereby  that  once  they  belonged  to 
them.  Let  the  true  believers  keep  from  making 
friends  with  the  Jan  and  with  the  Franji,  the 
friends  of  the  Jan!" 

A  low  murmur  of  frantic  rage  ran  around  the 
group  of  Moslem  listeners. 

David  waited  to  hear  no  more,  but  slipped  back 
to  his  father  and  recounted  what  he  had  heard. 

The  archaeologist  looked  grave. 

"This  is  the  beginning,"  he  said.  "I  had 
heard  that  the  Sultan  of  Turkey  intended  to  pro- 
claim a  Jehad,  or  Holy  War. ' ' 

"Mohammedans  against  Christians?"  queried 
the  boy. 

"More  exactly,  Islam  against  all  the  world," 
the  old  scholar  answered. 

"But  has  the  Sultan  of  Turkey  the  right  to  do 
that?"  asked  David.  "It  doesn't  look  like  it 


BLACK  TREACHERY  55 

down  here.  The  Arabs  seem  to  hate  the  Turks 
far  more  than  they  do  us.  Can  he  call  the  Be- 
douin to  his  standard  ? ' ' 

The  archaeologist  pondered  for  a  moment. 

"Yes,"  he  said  at  last,  "the  Sultan  of  Turkey 
has  the  right  to  summon  a  Holy  War,  that  is,  pro- 
vided he  can  secure  the  support  of  the  ulemas  or 
leading  spirits  of  the  Mohammedan  religion.  He 
is  officially  styled  the  *  Commander  of  the  Faith- 
ful, '  and  the  Caliph  of  Islam.  For  centuries  that 
power  was  held  by  the  Caliphate  of  Bagdad,  and 
later  by  Cairo,  by  Damascus  and  by  Constanti- 
nople. 

' '  But  you  will  never  really  understand  the  diffi- 
cult position  of  the  Sultan,"  the  old  scholar  con- 
tinued, "unless  you  bear  in  mind  that  the  Mo- 
hammedan religion  is  broken  asunder  into  two 
sects,  each  more  bitter  enemies  of  the  other  than 
they  are  even  of  the  Christians.  These  are  the 
Sunis  and  the  Shiahs.  The  original  split  occurred 
over  the  question  of  the  successorship  to  the  lead- 
ership after  the  death  of  Mohammed. 

"The  Sunis  acknowledge  the  succession  of  the 
first  four  Caliphs  and  of  the  Sultan  of  Turkey  to 
the  headship  of  the  Mohammedan  Church.  And, 


56 

as  you  know,  the  Muntafik  Arabs  are  Suni. 
Likely  enough  that  dervish  who  is  inflaming  the 
Arabs  over  yonder  is  a  Muntafik. 

"The  Shiahs  deny  the  succession  of  the  first 
four  Caliphs  and  recognize  as  the  true  heir  of  the 
Prophet  the  Iman  Ali,  who  married  Fatima,  Mo- 
hammed's daughter.  Al-Hassan  and  Al-Hussein 
started  a  revolt  against  the  Caliphs  and  were 
killed.  They  are  the  Shiah  martyrs.  The  Shiahs, 
therefore — which  include  nearly  all  the  peoples 
of  Mohammedan  India — regard  the  Sultan  of 
Turkey  not  only  as  a  usurper  to  a  throne  but  also 
as  a  profane  claimant  of  a  holy  office. 

"For  this  reason,  David,  I  do  not  think  there  is 
sufficient  cause  to  fear  a  Holy  War  if  the  edict  is 
issued  by  the  Sultan  of  Turkey.  In  the  first 
place,  half  the  Mohammedan  world  would  be 
against  him,  and,  in  the  second  place,  it  is  one  of 
the  main  articles  of  the  Mohammedan  creed  that 
no  action  can  be  taken  in  the  name  of  the  Prophet 
which  cannot  be  justified  by  the  writings  of  the 
Prophet.  A  Holy  War  would  have  to  be  directed 
against  England,  and,  as  is  well  known,  the  Brit- 
ish Empire  has  been  the  kindest,  the  most  tolerant, 
and  the  most  understanding  over-lord  that  any 
Mohammedan  country  has  ever  known." 


THE  HOLY  CARPET,  WHICH  DRAPES  MOHAMMED'S  TOMB  AT  MECCA. 


from  "  .Sphere":    U.  8.  Cojii/rii/hf,  X.  Y.  II  raid  Co. 

THE  SACRED  MAHMAL  CAMKL,  PRESENTED  BY  THE  BRITISH  ARMY. 


BLACK  TREACHERY  57 

" Where  do  Mecca  and  Medina  come  in?"  asked 
David.  "Are  they  Suni  or  Shiah?" 

"Mecca,  Medina  and  Jerusalem,  being  shrines 
connected  with  Mohammed  himself,  are  sacred  to 
both  sects.  Throughout  the  whole  Mohammedan 
world,  it  is  the  pilgrimage  to  Mecca  which  most 
insures  respect,  and  even  a  certain  admission  to 
Heaven.  But,  in  addition  to  these,  the  Shiahs 
prize  the  shrines  of  Kerbela  and  Nejef  which  con- 
tain respectively  the  tombs  of  the  martyr  Al-Hus- 
sein,  and  the  sacred  shrine  of  AH." 

"Kerbela  is  right  near  here,  isn't  it?"  queried 
David. 

"Less  than  twenty  miles  away,"  the  archaeolo- 
gist replied,  "and  Nejef  is  only  fifty  miles  away 
on  the  main  pilgrim  route  to  Mecca.  Small  won- 
der, then,  that  this  should  be  a  Shiah  stronghold. ' ' 

"Then  why  can't  we  go  ahead  with  our  work?" 

The  archaeologist  shook  his  head. 

"From  what  you've  heard  from  the  dervish," 
he  said,  "it  is  sure  that  the  authorities  would  stop 
excavation,  and,  as  you  know,  all  official  permis- 
sion comes  from  the  Turks,  not  from  the  Arabs. 
If  the  Jehad  is  proclaimed,  no  one  would  under- 
take the  work.  It  would  only  be  inviting  trouble. 
Even  the  Nestorian  Christians,  of  whom  there  are 


58       WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

a  good  many  among  our  laborers,  would  quit 
work  in  order  to  avoid  giving  the  Turks  an  ex- 
cuse for  massacre. 

' 'It  is  better  for  us  to  take  the  first  step  in  the 
matter.  Go,  David,  and  find  Ibrahim.  Tell  him 
that  a  week 's  holiday  is  to  be  given  to  the  laborers 
and  that  no  work  need  be  done  to-day.  By  that 
means,  we  shall  avoid  giving  an  order  which  is 
disobeyed,  a  fatal  thing  in  dealing  with  Eastern 
peoples.  That  done,  ask  him  to  come  to  me." 

David  buried  on  his  quest  and  soon  found  Ibra- 
him, surrounded  by  a  group  of  workers.  The  boy 
delivered  his  message.  An  appreciative  gleam 
flashed  into  the  Arab's  eyes. 

' '  It  is  well,  Daoud, "  he  said.  "  Tell  the  Man  of 
Peace,  your  father,  that  the  tools  of  work  will  be 
laid  aside. ' ' 

Later  in  the  morning  the  dervish  came  to  the 
little  tent  pitched  near  the  ruins,  at  the  door  of 
which  the  archaeologist  sat,  quietly  smoking. 

"Good  morning,  0  Man  of  Peace!"  said  the 
dervish. 

"A  hundred  mornings  with  peace,"  the  archae- 
ologist replied. 

The  archaeologist  then  silently  held  out  his  to- 
bacco pouch,  and  the  dervish  filled  his  long  pipe. 


BLACK  TREACHERY  59 

"May  it  always  be  full,''  he  said,  as  he  handed 
it  back  gratefully. 

"Even  as  your  voice  has  said,"  the  archaeologist 
replied,  continuing  the  system  of  compliments 
characteristic  of  the  East. 

The  pipes  filled,  the  archaeologist  struck  a 
match  and  handed  it  to  the  dervish. 

"May  you  never  know  its  evil!"  he  said,  as  he 
gave  the  match. 

"Nor  you  its  heat!"  the  dervish  responded,  as 
he  put  it  to  the  bowl  of  his  pipe  and  began  to 
smoke. 

After  a  long  pause,  there  was  a  further  inter- 
change of  compliments,  and  nothing  further  was 
said  until  the  pipes  were  filled  a  second  time. 

Finally,  the  archaeologist  hazarded  the  remark : 

"It  is  written:  'The  words  of  the  wise  men  are 
as  gold  thrice  refined. '  ' ' 

To  which  the  dervish  replied : 

"In  the  name  of  Allah,  the  All-Compassion- 
ate!" 

And  the  American,  understanding  the  dervish 
was  about  to  explain  the  meaning  of  his  visit,  bent 
forward  in  attention. 

"One  day,"  the  dervish  began,  "when  the 
Prophet — on  whom  be  prayers  and  peace — was 


60       WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

sitting  beneath  the  shadow  of  a  date  palm,  there 
came  to  him  Abu  Dib  (the  brown  bear)  shuffling 
painfully  along  upon  swollen  and  blistered  feet. 
To  whom  the  Prophet  said: 

"  'Abu  Dib,  why  are  your  feet  so  swollen?' 

"And  Abu  Dib  replied: 

* '  *  The  sands  of  the  desert  are  hot  and  the  way 
is  very  long. ' 

"Then  said  the  Prophet: 

"  'What  thought  sent  the  feet  of  Abu  Dib  to 
tread  the  long  hot  ways  of  the  desert  I ' 

"And  Abu  Dib  replied: 

"  *  To  look  upon  the  servant  of  Allah. ' 

"And  the  Prophet  answered: 

"  'To  seek  wisdom  is  well,  to  satisfy  curiosity 
without  gain  therein  is  foolishness.  Those  who 
walk  in  ways  other  than  those  which  Allah  has 
made  for  their  feet  must  suffer  pain. ' 

"And  from  that  day  onward,  O  Man  of  Peace, 
Abu  Dib  has  always  walked  clumsily  upon  flat 
feet." 

The  archaeologist  looked  the  dervish  straight 
in  the  eyes  and  the  other  returned  his  glance 
squarely.  The  threat  was  a  definite  one,  that  the 
archaeologist  should  not  continue  his  work,  though 
couched  in  story  form,  and  the  American  knew 


BLACK  TREACHERY  61 

that  the  dervish  would  never  have  gone  so  far  as 
to  suggest  that  danger  threatened  him  unless  he 
had  received  definite  instructions. 

After  a  pause,  the  American  answered,  throwing 
his  answer  into  the  allegorical  style  most  favored 
in  the  East : 

"0  dervish,  it  is  written,"  he  said,  "  'that  he 
who  will  not  hear  wisdom  may  be  smitten  with  a 
stick. '  It  is  told  of  a  wise  man  in  our  country  that 
one  day,  wandering  in  the  fields,  he  found  a  hive 
of  wild  bees,  from  which  the  honey  was  running 
out  upon  the  ground. 

"Full  of  wonder  at  this,  for  he  knew  well  that 
the  hives  of  the  wild  bee  do  not  suffer  the  honey 
to  escape,  the  wise  man  stepped  closer  and  found 
that  the  cells  in  which  the  bees  were  storing  their 
honey  were  round,  and  since  round  cells  do  not 
fit  together,  the  cells  broke  easily  and  the  contents 
\vere  spilled. 

' '  So  the  wise  man  picked  up  one  of  the  bees  in 
his  hand  and  said  to  her: 

"  *  Little  Friend,  why  do  you  build  your  cells 
with  round  walls  ?  Do  you  not  see  that  they  break 
down  easily  V 

"And  the  bee  answered: 

"  'Yes,  Master,  but  our  mothers  built  them  in 


the  shape  of  pyramids,  and  they  broke  even  more 
easily. ' 

' '  Then  said  the  wise  man : 

"  'Take  me  to  a  hive  of  your  mothers.' 

"So  the  young  bee  flew  to  a  bank  near  by,  and 
there  the  wise  man  saw  a  hive  with  cells  like  a 
pyramid.  From  it,  the  honey  was  leaking  also. 

"So  the  wise  man  took  a  bee  from  the  second 
hive  and  said: 

"  'Little  Friend,  why  do  you  build  your  cells 
with  pyramidal  walls?  Do  you  not  'See  that  they 
break  easily?' 

"And  that  bee  answered: 

"  'Yes,  Master,  but  our  mothers  built  them  in 
squares  and  they  broke  also. ' 

' '  Then  said  the  wise  man : 

' '  '  Take  me  to  a  hive  of  your  mothers. ' 

"So  the  young  bee  flew  to  a  hollow  tree,  and 
there  the  wise  men  saw  a  hive  with  cells  like 
square  chests.  From  it  the  honey  was  leaking 
also. 

' '  So  the  wise  man  took  a  bee  from  the  third  hive 
and  said: 

"  'Little  Friend,  why  do  you  build  your  cells 
like  chests?  Do  you  not  see  that  they  break 
easily?' 


BLACK  TREACHERY  63 

"And  that  bee  answered: 

"  *  Yes,  Master,  but  our  mothers  built  them  with 
five  sides,  and  they  could  not  be  fitted  together  so 
that  much  honey  was  lost. ' 

' '  Then  said  the  wise  man : 

' '  '  Take  me  to  a  hive  of  your  mothers. ' 

1 l  So  the  young  bee  flew  to  a  hole  in  the  rock,  and 
there  the  wise  man  saw  a  hive  with  five-sided  cells. 
From  it  the  honey  was  leaking  also. 

"So  the  wise  man  took  a  bee  from  the  fourth 
hive  and  said : 

"  'Little  Friend,  why  do  you  build  your  cells 
with  five  sides?  Do  you  not  see  that  they  do  not 
fit  together  well  and  that  much  honey  is  lost!' 

"And  the  bee  answered: 

' '  '  Yes,  Master,  but  we  know  no  other  way.  Our 
mothers  came  from  far  away,  and  when  they  came 
to  build  a  hive  they  determined  to  break  away 
from  the  old  customs  of  the  country  they  had  left 
behind  and  build  their  hives  with  five  sides. 
What  the  old  way  was,  we  do  not  know.  Since 
then  our  children  have  tried  many  forms,  but  none 
are  perfect,  though  there  is  a  belief  that  in  that 
land  far  away,  the  hives  were  perfect  and  the 
honey  never  leaked  away.' 

"Then  the  wise  man  smiled  and  said: 


64       WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

"  'Little  Friend,  it  happens  often  that  the 
young  can  learn  from  the  old.  In  yonder  tree 
which  you  see  growing  far  up  towards  the  hills, 
you  will  find  a  hive  of  bees  who  build  their  cells  of 
six  sides,  even  as  your  ancestors  used  to  do. 
Learn  from  them  and  your  hives  will  be  perfect 
again. ' 

"It  is  often  well  to  search  in  the  former  homes 
of  great  men  who  lived  before  us  to  learn  how 
they  accomplished  things  which  are  now  forgot- 
ten. The  Bedouins  are  great,  yet  they  could  not 
rebuild  Babylon." 

This  was  a  declaration  of  intention  to  continue 
the  excavation  work. 

There  was  another  pause,  and  then  the  dervish 
rose. 

"The  followers  of  the  Prophet  are  as  the  grains 
of  sand  upon  the  desert  for  number,"  he  said, 
"and  if  the  winds  of  the  desert  stir  them,  who  can 
resist  the  storm?" 

The  threat  was  open  and  definite  now,  but  the 
archaeologist  continued  smoking,  and  replied 
placidly : 

"The  traveler  upon  the  desert  awaits  until  he 
sees  the  sandstorm  before  he  lies  down  and  covers 
his  head  with  his  mantle. ' ' 


Copyright  by  '•  'J'/if  draji/itc." 

THE  IMPERIAL  CAMEL  CORPS  IN  A  SAND-STORM. 

Not  even  military  discipline  and  civilized  skill  can  tame  the  desert;  it 
claims  its  victims  still.     (Sketch  by  an  officer.) 


BLACK  TREACHERY  65 

The  dervish  sniffed  the  air. 

"I  feel  the  hot  wind  of  the  desert,"  he  an- 
swered, "and  the  sands  are  beginning  to  stir." 

And,  with  a  profound  obeisance,  he  strode  away 
to  the  camp  of  the  laborers  and  was  not  seen 
again. 

David  came  forward  from  the  inner  portion  of 
the  tent,  where  he  had  been  listening. 

"How  much  time  have  we  got  ahead  of  us, 
Father,  do  ybu  suppose  t "  he  asked. 

The  old  archaeologist  looked  at  the  boy  thought- 
fully. 

"Not  long,  I'm  afraid,"  he  said. 

"What  will  they  do  to  us?" 

The  old  scholar  is  eyes  narrowed. 

"Moslem  fanaticism  is  a  dangerous  thing,"  he 
answered. 

After  a  pause  he  spoke  again. 

"David,"  he  said,  "you  remember  where  we 
buried  that  little  tablet  of  Babylonian  inscrip- 
tions, set  with  jewels?" 

"Yes,"  answered  the  lad. 

"Late  this  afternoon,  you  had  better  take  your 
rifle  as  a  blind  to  your  movements  and  stroll  over 
in  that  direction.  Dig  up  the  tablet  and  bring  it 
back  in  your  game-bag. ' ' 


66       WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

"All  right,  Father.  Why  did  you  bury  it,  any- 
how?" 

"When  we  got  permission  from  Constantinople 
to  work  in  these  mounds,"  the  archaeologist  an- 
swered, "one  of  the  conditions  was  that  gold  or 
treasure  should  be  turned  over  to  the  Turkish  gov- 
ernment. The  gems  worked  into  the  enamel 
which  surrounds  the  cuneiform  inscription  might 
be  regarded  as  treasure,  and  the  tablet  is  much  too 
important  historically  for  me  to  allow  it  to  run 
the  risk  of  being  lost.  If  I  go  to  dig  it  up,  I 
shall  be  watched,  and,  if  there  is  talk  of  a  Jehad, 
even  Ibrahim  cannot  be  trusted.  You  are  far  less 
likely  to  be  followed.  You  are  sure  you  remember 
where  it  is  ? " 

"Sure,"  replied  David  positively.  "It's  by  a 
small  lump  of  ground  between  three  big  tussocks 
of  grass,  just  where,  by  standing  on  the  top  of  the 
lump,  you  can  see  the  'fiery  furnace'  mosque,  on  a 
line  with  the  outer  end  of  the  Sheik's  date-palms 
to  the  northeast. ' r 

"Exactly,"  returned  his  father,  nodding  satis- 
faction. "Don't  be  too  late.  Get  back  before 
dark,  for  sure.  By  that  time  I  '11  have  planned  the 
best  means  for  your  escape  to-night." 

Accordingly,  after  the  siesta  following  the  mid- 


BLACK  TREACHERY  67 

day  meal,  David  took  his  rifle  and  his  game-bag 
and  started  out  towards  the  marshes,  through  the 
camel-thorn,  in  the  quest  for  sand-grouse  or  black 
partridge.  The  boy  was  a  good  shot  and  his  gun 
did  a  great  deal  toward  keeping  the  camp  supplied 
with  food.  Game  was  a  welcome  change  from  the 
interminable  strong-flavored  mutton  provided  by 
the  Arabs. 

Towards  evening,  his  game-bag  more  than  half- 
filled,  David  sauntered,  as  though  carelessly, 
homewards  in  the  direction  of  the  mosque  that 
crowned  the  mound  where  once  Nebuchadnezzar 
had  built  a  fiery  furnace,  and  where  the  escape 
of  Meshach,  Shadrach,  and  Abednego  was 
said  to  have  changed  the  feelings  of  the  Great 
King. 

But,  as  he  drew  near  to  the  mound,  David  was 
amazed  to  see  two  figures  in  the  distance,  which 
looked  strangely  familiar.  He  rubbed  his  eyes, 
thinking  he  saw  a  mirage. 

In  the  far  distance,  but  discernible  to  his  clear 
young  eyesight,  he  saw,  or  seemed  to  see,  his 
father  and  himself  walking  toward  him. 

There  was  nothing  strange  in  the  figure  of  his 
father  approaching  the  place,  for  David  knew  that 
the  archaeologist  expected  him  to  be  there  about 


68       WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

that  time.  But  how  did  the  figure  of  himself  get 
there? 

Undoubtedly  mirage. 

But — he  himself  was  still,  crouching  in  the 
shadow  of  a  mound,  while  this  other  figure  that 
seemed  to  be  himself  was  advancing!  David 
knew  well  enough  that  while  a  mirage  magnifies 
small  objects,  and  may  make  things  which  are 
scores  of  miles  away  seem  nearer,  it  cannot  create 
an  image.  He,  David,  was  crouching  on  the 
ground,  motionless.  The  figure  in  the  distance 
that  resembled  him  was  walking. 

He  moved  his  hand.  There  was  no  correspond- 
ing movement  in  the  advancing  figure. 

Although  his  early  life  in  the  East  had  made 
David  at  one  time  as  superstitious  as  any  Arab 
boy,  his  recent  three  years  in  an  American  school 
had  purged  him  of  a  great  many  beliefs  in  phan- 
toms and  spirits.  Besides,  there  was  something 
very  substantial  in  his  apparent  double. 

Moreover,  while  the  other  figure  looked  like  his 
father,  the  walk  seemed  to  be  different.  The 
archaeologist  usually  walked  with  a  quick  'step 
leaning  forward.  The  advancing  figure  had  a 
solid  and  heavy  tread. 

The  two  figures  came  nearer.    They  were  not 


BLACK  TREACHERY  69 

specters,  for  their  shadows  were  strongly  thrown 
by  the  afternoon  sun. 

There  was  no  longer  any  doubt  of  it.  Just  so 
sure  as  that  the  figure  purporting  to  be  David  was 
not  the  boy,  so  it  was  sure  that  the  other  figure 
was  not  the  archaeologist. 

Nearer  and  nearer  they  came  and  David  noted 
that  their  direction  was  not  for  the  mound  behind 
which  he  was  crouching,  but  that  they  seemed  to 
be  going  directly  to  the  "fiery  furnace"  mound, 
on  the  top  of  which  stood  the  little  mosque. 

An  unexplained  feeling  of  pending  danger  im- 
pelled David  suddenly  to  get  to  his  feet. 

The  moment  the  others  saw  him,  they  halted. 
From  their  gestures  the  boy  could  see  that  they 
were  consulting  together.  But,  after  a  few 
minutes,  they  came  on  again,  evidently  mating 
towards  the  mosque-crowned  mound. 

Again  that  presentiment  of  danger  struck 
David,  and  without  quite  knowing  why  he  did  it, 
he  turned  and  ran  sharply  to  the  top  of  the  mound, 
taking  up  a  stand  close  by  the  open  door  of  the 
mosque. 

As  the  others  followed  and  came  still  nearer, 
David  recognized  them.  They  were  two  assist- 
ants from  the  German  camp,  which  had  been  en- 


70       WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

gaged  at  excavaiting  part  of  the  ruins  of  Babylon 
eight  or  ten  miles  away. 

David  waited  for  them  to  come  close. 

Then  the  taller  of  the  two,  who  was  imperson- 
ating the  archaeologist,  said  to  the  boy,  in  Arabic : 

" Stand  back!" 

The  arrogant  air  of  authority  irritated  David. 
There  had  never  been  any  love  lost  between  the 
two  scientific  camps,  and  more  than  once  valuable 
discoveries  made  by  the  Americans  had  been 
stolen  and  had  reappeared  in  the  German  collec- 
tion. Also,  there  had  been  a  more  or  less  con- 
stant struggle  with  laborers,  the  Germans  per- 
petually sowing  distrust  of  all  peoples  but  them- 
selves among  the  Arab  tribes. 

Accordingly  David,  without  budging  a  step,  re- 
plied with  the  question : 

"Why?" 

"Stand  back,"  the  elder  of  the  two  repeated, 
advancing  as  though  to  enter  the  mosque. 

In  a  flash  David  saw  the  whole  plot.  The  Ger- 
mans had  dressed  themselves  up  to  look  like  the 
two  Americans,  they  planned  to  desecrate  the 
mosque  by  entering  it,  and,  possibly,  committing 
some  sacrilege  therein — a  thing  sure  to  arouse  the 
hatred  and  fanaticism  of  the  Arabs — and,  if  mur- 


BLACK  TREACHERY  71 

der  were  done,  there  would  be  no  evidence  of  Ger- 
man complicity.  Realizing  that  such  a  foul  plot 
imbroiled  his  father  as  much  as  himself,  the  lad 
stood  firm. 

"You're  not  going  to  come  in  here,"  retorted 
the  boy  defiantly. 

The  elder  German  deliberately  produced  a  re- 
volver. 

1 '  Stand  back, ' '  he  said,  * '  or  I  shall  fire  and  drag 
your  body  in  and  leave  it  on  the  mosque  floor. 
Nothing  is  so  defiling  as  the  dead. ' ' 

He  smiled  sardonically. 

"In  that  case,  I  do  not  think  that  Moslem  Arabs 
will  permit  any  more  excavations,  and  your  father 
will  be  lucky  if  he  escapes  with  his  life. " 

The  dilemma  was  a  serious  one  to  the  boy.  He 
was  armed  only  with  a  shotgun,  and  he  knew  that 
if  he  tried  to  make  a  fight  of  it,  the  revolver  bullet 
would  reach  him  before  he  could  bring  his  more 
unwieldy  piece  to  the  shoulder  and  aim.  Besides, 
they  were  two  to  one. 

The  revolver  glittered  grimly  in  the  German's 
hand. 

Then  a  -sudden  thought  flashed  into  the  boy's 
mind. 

Moving  to  one  side,  as  though  giving  the  im- 


72       WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

pression  that  lie  felt  it  vain  to  resist,  David  turned 
his  back  to  the  two  intruders,  and  throwing  his  re- 
peating shotgun  to  his  shoulder,  fired  in  the  air 
three  times  in  succession. 

Throughout  all  the  world,  three  is  the  signal  of 
danger,  and  even  on  the  desert,  three  shots  is  a 
call  for  assistance. 

The  shots  startled  the  Germans,  for  they  saw  at 
once  their  danger,  but  having  been  ordered  by 
their  chief  to  enter  the  mosque  and  to  commit  cer- 
tain acts  which  would  be  sacrilege,  they  pushed  by 
the  boy  and  entered. 

No  sooner  were  they  inside,  than  David  sprang 
to  the  heavy  mefeal-barred  door  and  swung  it  shut, 
wedging  it  in  place  with  the  stock  of  his  gun,  there 
being  neither  wood  nor  stone  at  hand. 

As  the  door  slammed,  there  came  a  revolver 
shot  from  the  inside.  The  bullet  struck  against 
one  of  the  cross-bars  and  dropped  harmlessly. 

In  the  distance,  some  Arabs,  riding  in  the  di- 
rection of  their  black  tents,  had  heard  the  shots. 
Turning  in  their  saddles,  they  saw  smoke  rising 
from  near  the  mosque  door  and  beheld  a  figure  in 
European  clothes.  With  a  common  impulse  they 
shook  the  reins  of  their  horses  and,  with  spears  at 
the  advance,  came  charging  up  the  slope. 


BLACK  TREACHERY  73 

Their  fierce  eyes  gleamed  angrily  on  David,  till 
he  explained  the  'situation  and  pointed  to  the 
closed  door. 

"I  have  been  taught  by  my  father,"  he  said, 
* '  that  a  mosque  is  a  holy  place,  and  that  it  is  no<t 
pleasing  to  Allah  that  one  who  is  not  a  true  Mos- 
lem should  enter." 

To  which  the  elder  Arab  replied : 

"Thy  father,  the  Man  of  Peace — to  whom  be 
honor — is  blessed  in  a  son  who  remembers  the 
words  of  wisdom.  Abd-el-Imhammad  has  said 
it." 

David  knew  that  this  was  equal  to  a  formal  dec- 
laration of  protection,  alliance  and  friendship,  and 
he  would  willingly  have  stayed  longer  to  talk  with 
his  new  friends,  but  Abd-el-Imhammad,  the  leader 
of  the  party,  said  emphatically  and  significantly: 

"As  Allah  wills  it,  let  me  no  longer  prevent  you 
from  continuing  your  way. ' ' 

This  was  a  blunt  dismissal  and  David,  lifting 
his  shotgun  from  the  socket  of  the  mosque  gate, 
trod  homewards. 

A  fusillade  of  shots  told  the  boy  that  the  Ger- 
mans were  making  some  defense,  but  David  did 
not  need  to  look.  Had  a  whole  German  regiment 
been  present  it  could  not  have  saved  the  lives  of 


74       WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

men  who  had  deliberately  entered  a  mosque  to 
desecrate  it. 

Stopping  at  the  little  mound  where  he  had  first 
descried  the  Germans  in  the  distance,  David  dug 
up  the  small  tablet  of  cuneiform  inscriptions  and 
set  out  for  home. 

Sur«ely  to-day  was  the  day  of  mirage!  No 
sooner  did  the  site  of  the  encampment  loom  be- 
fore him  -than  David  rubbed  his  eyes,  fearing  that 
his  sight  was  deceiving  him  in  the  dusk.  There 
was  the  little  hut  where  he  and  his  father  rested 
in  the  heat  of  the  day,  for  it  was  much  too  far 
to  return  for  the  siesta  to  the  main  encampment 
on  the  banks  of  the  Euphrates;  there  was  the 
shelter  of  the  mud-covered  reeds  that  had  been 
erected  to  protect  from  the  sun  the  picture- 
covered  stone  slabs  that  had  been  excavated  from 
the  ruins  of  the  ancient  palaces  of  Babylon. 

But — where  were  the  tents  of  the  laborers? 

His  heart  beating  fast  with  the  presage  of 
danger,  David  hurried  forward. 

The  huts  were  empty;  the  tents  gone. 

The  encampment  of  Arabs  had  vanished  like 
mist  before  the  sun. 

The  mounds  and  dust-heaps  of  Babylon,  never 


BLACK  TREACHERY  75 

to  the  boy's  eyes  as  desolate  as  now,  loomed  be- 
tween him  and  the  setting  sun. 

A  jackal  howled  over  the  waste  and  a  hyena 
gave  vent  to  his  mocking  laughter. 

Bewildered,  even  confounded,  David  searched 
the  hut  in  vain  for  some  token  or  sign  left  by  his 
father.  There  was  none.  Passing  into  the  mud- 
covered  reed  shelter  where  the  slabs  had  been 
stored,  he  saw,  in  the  faint  light,  some  dark 
scratches  above  one  of  the  cuneiform  inscriptions. 
Bending  down,  he  deciphered,  written  in  lead- 
pencil,  the  following  message: 

"Your  horse  is  tied  by  the  Mound  of  Bel.  No 
Arab  will  venture  there  before  daylight.  Lose 
no  time.  Go  to  Basra  at  once  and  find  Ferguson. 
Your  game-bag  will  provide  you  with  all  you  need 
for  the  journey.  The  Sheik  has  lent  me  a  rac- 
ing camel  and  the  Turkish  cavalry  are  already  on 
their  way  here  from  Bagdad.  Good-luck,  my  boy. 
Good-by.  It  won 't  be  for  long !  Your  Father. ' ' 

David  was  alone  amid  the  ruins  of  Babylon, 
with  the  fires  of  war  beginning  to  rage  around 
him. 


CHAPTER  in 

A  CAMEL-FLIGHT   FOB  LIFE 

MUCH  had  happened  that  afternoon  while  David 
was  still  striding  over  the  marshes  shooting  black 
partridge,  events  not  less  drastic  than  the  boy's 
prevention  of  the  German  attempt  to  cause  a  mas- 
sacre of  the  Americans  by  violation  of  the  sanctity 
of  the  mosque. 

It  must  have  been  just  about  the  same  time  that 
David  first  turned  his  steps  in  the  direction  of  the 
mosque  that  Ibrahim  came  up  to  the  hut  where 
the  archaeologist  was  sitting  idly,  awaiting  the 
development  of  events. 

After  the  usual  ceremonious  greetings  had 
been  exchanged,  for,  no  matter  how  hurried  an 
Arab  may  be,  he  will  never  fail  to  make  the  cus- 
tomary salutations,  Ibrahim  said : 

"It  is  written,  0  Man  of  Peace,  that  'he  who 
set  the  foot  of  a  friend  on  the  right  way  has 
pleased  Allah.'  " 

"It  is  so  written,"  the  archaeologist  agreed,  con- 
cealing his  impatience. 

76 


A  CAMEL-FLIGHT  FOR  LIFE      77 

"The  Sheik  Abd-el-Rahman,  a  true  follower 
of  the  Prophet — on  whom  be  peace — has  sent  his 
two  swiftest  racing  camels.  He  places  them  at 
your  service  and  assures  you  that  the  Suni  dogs 
have  no  horses  that  can  catch  them  over  the  desert 
sands." 

The  American  looked  the  Arab  squarely  in  the 
eye. 

"You  believe  it  is  necessary  that  I  should  es- 
cape?" 

The  Bedouin  waved  his  hand. 

"The  pastures  are  no  longer  green,"  he  an- 
swered, using  the  general  expression  of  the  Arab 
when  explaining  a  move  of  the  encampment. 

It  was  true.  On  every  side  the  archaeologist 
saw  the  black  tents  being  taken  down,  rolled  into 
bundles  and  put  on  the  backs  of  the  baggage  cam- 
els. Nearer  at  hand,  from  his  own  camp,  the 
bearers  were  going.  The  laborers'  camp  was  al- 
ready half  abandoned. 

*  <  <  Time  is  from  Allah,  but  hurry  is  the  child  of 
the  Evil  One,'  "  the  archaeologist  remarked. 

"The  road  is  short  to  the  eager  pilgrim,"  re- 
torted Ibrahim,  referring  to  the  pilgrimage  to 
Mecca. 

From  the  point  of  view  of  Oriental  speech,  this 


78 

was  definite.  The  archaeologist  stood  up  and  put 
a  direct  question. 

" There  has  come  word  of  trouble!" 

The  Arab 's  answer  was  swift  and  clean-cut. 

"A  troop  of  horsemen  has  already  left  Bagdad, 
with  orders  for  the  arrest  of  all  the  Franji." 

"But  I  have  a  firman,"  (authority  from  the  Sul- 
tan), declared  the  American. 

"War  changes  all,"  said  the  Bedouin. 

The  archaeologist  sat  still.  The  frantic  cries  of 
the  Arabs  and  Nestorians  as  they  struggled,  each 
in  their  own  groups,  to  get  their  belongings  to- 
gether and  flee  from  the  place,  disturbed  the 
desert  silence. 

"I  will  go  to-morrow,"  he  said  at  last. 

"  'Delay  not  the  doing  of  a  good  action,  evil 
may  wait, '  ' '  quoted  the  Arab. 

"How  soon,  then?" 

' '  There  is  a  boy  holding  the  bridles  of  the  cam- 
els." 

"One  moment,  then,"  and  the  old  scholar 
slipped  into  the  shelter  to  pencil  the  brief  note  of 
direction  to  David,  rightly  fearing  that  if  he  left 
a  letter,  it  might  be  removed. 

Five  minutes'  further  preparation  sufficed,  and 
then  the  archaeologist,  with  his  papers  stuffed  into 


A  CAMEL-FLIGHT  FOR  LIFE      79 

a  small  flat  satchel  which  he  slung  over  his  back, 
followed  the  Bedouin  to  where  two  white  racing 
camels  were  standing: 

' '  What  noble  animals ! "  he  exclaimed. 

"They  are  of  the  purest  blood,"  replied  Ibra- 
him, turning  to  watch  one  of  his  tribesmen  who 
was  galloping  towards  them  at  topmost  speed. 

"The  horsemen  are  in  Hillah!"  said  the  new- 
comer, as  he  approached. 

Hillah,  the  little  village  built  largely  out  of  the 
fragments  of  Babylon,  was  but  a  few  miles  away. 

It  needed  no  urging  for  the  archa3ologist  to 
swing  himself  into  the  camel-saddle,  and  the  beast 
rose  from  his  knees  with  the  gurgling  bubble  cry 
so  strong  and  harsh  in  the  racing  breed. 

"May  the  path  be  short!"  s>aid  the  Arab  who 
had  brought  the  news. 

* i  In-sha-Allah, — as  Allah  wills ! ' '  answered  the 
archaeologist,  and  the  soft-footed  camels  broke 
into  the  racing  trot.  Babylon  was  soon  left  be- 
hind. 

Came  night,  the  stars,  the  silence  of  the  desert, 
and  the  'two  camels  speeding  with  their  noiseless 
stride. 

In  the  distance,  a  prowling  jackal. 

Over  the  rim  of  the  horizon,  invisible  to  the 


8o       WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

pursued,  rode  the  pursuers,  Turks  and  Arabs  of 
the  tribe  of  Muntafik,  Sunis  all,  loyal  to  the  Sultan 
of  Turkey. 

The  archaeologist,  unused  to  the  racking,  joint- 
wrenching  motion  of  a  racing  camel,  which  moves 
the  fore  and  hind  legs  together  first  of  one  side 
and  then  of  the  other,  like  the  gait  of  a  rocking- 
horse,  suffered  intolerable  pain  all  night  through. 
Not  until  nearly  morning  did  he  allow  an  im- 
patient exclamation  to  escape  him. 

"  Allah  may  have  created  the  camel  because  of 
his  love  for  his  people  that  dwell  on  the  desert," 
he  said,  "but  to  ride  him  for  many  hours  turns 
the  heart  to  water. ' ' 

But  Ibrahim,  on  the  other  camel,  hastening  for- 
wards, only  replied. 

"When  a  fire  is  to  be  extinguished  one  does  not 
ask  whether  the  water  thrown  on  it  be  salt  or 
fresh. ' ' 

Twelve  hours  of  riding  had  brought  the  old 
scholar  almost  to  the  point  of  exhaustion,  but 
Ibraham  had  no  intention  of  being  overtaken  in 
the  act  of  helping  an  infidel  to  escape  from  the 
edict  of  the  Commander  of  the  Faithful. 

After  a  very  brief  halt,  and  a  meal  consisting  of 
a  handful  of  meal,  a  few  dates  and  a  drink  of 


A  CAMEL-FLIGHT  FOR  LIFE      81 

water,  the  Bedouin  led  the  way  across  the  desert 
at  a  steady  pace. 

Towards  evening  the  fugitives  drew  near  to 
Haman,  a  small  village  on  the  main  caravan  route 
for  the  Mecca  pilgrims  from  Persia. 

1 '  Will  it  not  be  dangerous  to  stop  here  t ' '  asked 
the  archaeologist. 

"It  is  a  danger  we  must  face/'  the  Arab  an- 
swered. "We  shall  not  reach  the  khan  (walled 
camping-ground)  until  nearly  dark,  and,  as  you 
know,  at  dark  the  gates  are  closed.  Even  if  those 
who  are  pursuing  are  close  behind,  they  cannot 
reach  here  before  the  gates  are  shut." 

"But  might  they  not  camp  outside  and  cut  us 
off  in  the  morning!" 

"If  they  are  Turks,"  the  Arab  answered,  "they 
will  not  wish  to  sleep  in  the  open ;  if  they  are  Be- 
douins, unless  a  very  strong  party  they  would  not 
risk  a  ghazu." 

Lower  and  lower  sank  the  sun;  the  fierce  heat 
which  had  been  parching  the  lips  and  searing  the 
eyes  began  to  die  down.  With  evening  all  things 
seemed  to  grow  more  aloof  from  the  American. 
The  desert  stretched  out  interminably  and  the 
mind  seemed  to  grope  in  vain  for  something  hu- 
man, something  less  pitiless.  The  ruins  of  Baby- 


82        WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

Ion  had  been  desolate  with  the  melancholy  re- 
minders of  what  had  once  been,  but,  in  Babylon, 
there  was  something  definite  upon  which  the  mind 
could  fasten.  The  desert  is  desolate  with  a 
crushing  emptiness,  sand  and  sun  and  sky  seem  to 
mock  at  human  effort. 

Although  he  had  lived  for  years  in  the  East, 
this  was  the  first  time  that  the  archaeologist  had 
been  on  the  desert  alone,  with  a  solitary  Arab. 
Better  than  ever  before  he  understood  the  thought 
of  the  Bast. 

Resist  the  silence  of  the  desert,  and  it  is  terrify- 
ing with  the  inert  weight  of  its  monotony  and  im- 
palpable horizons;  yield  to  the  desert,  and  some 
inner  well  of  silence  in  man  responds  to  that  vast 
hush.  One  becomes  a  part  of  the  great  silence. 
Horizons  and  time  matter  no  longer,  speech  is 
unimportant.  The  air  vibrates  with  unsaid 
words,  with  unthought  thoughts.  And  the  archa&- 
ologist  understood  how  the  fatalistic  doctrines 
of  Islam  were  born  of  the  desert  and  flourish 
there.  There  is  no  measure  of  space  in  the  desert 
save  the  length  of  a  caravan  march  from  rise  to 
set  of  sun,  there  is  no  measure  of  time  but  the 
passage  of  the  sun  across  the  sky. 

To  the  western  mind,  Nature  is  something  that 


A  CAMEL-FLIGHT  FOR  LIFE      83 

may  be  tamed.  Rocks  may  be  blasted  away  to 
build  great  roads,  bridges  may  be  flung  across 
rivers  and  chasms,  forests  may  be  turned  into 
gardens,  prairies  into  cultivated  fields,  even  water- 
falls harnessed  to  drive  the  wheels  of  industry. 
But,  to  the  eastern  mind,  Nature  is  no  ready  slave. 
Sand  and  sun  and  sky  are  all-powerful.  They 
may  not  be  conquered  or  controlled,  and  the  Bed- 
ouin lives  on  the  fringes  of  the  desert  in  full  un- 
derstanding that  it  is  only  in  so  far  as  he  yields  to 
Nature  that  he  will  be  permitted  to  live,  by  grace 
of  that  savage  trio,  the  sand,  the  sun,  and  the  sky. 
At  last  came  the  khan.  Though  one  of  the  pil- 
grimage stations,  Haman  is  also  a  point  where 
the  commercial  caravans  stop,  and  the  khan  was 
full.  It  was  one  of  such  stopping-places  of  the 
simplest  variety,  merely  a  high  wall  with  a  num- 
ber of  covered  arches,  two  stories  high,  on  one 
side  of  the  great  open  court  yard,  or  corral.  Bells 
from  the  animals  tinkled  on  all  sides.  Every- 
where were  kneeling  camels,  waiting  patiently  for 
their  loads  to  be  removed;  mules  munched  the 
straw  out  of  each  other's  bursting  saddles;  yellow 
dogs  slouched  about.  Two  muleteers  were  quar- 
reling violently.  An  Armenian  merchant  was 
speaking  to  a  caravan  leader  with  the  obsequious, 


84       WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

cringing  manner  of  the  Armenian  trader  in  the 
East.  The  Arabs  remained  aloof. 

And  the  sun  came  to  the  rim  of  the  horizon, 
shooting  out  the  warning  of  his  departure  in 
flames  of  orange  and  gold. 

The  confusion  of  the  khan  ceased.  The  quar- 
rels came  to  an  end.  Even  the  animals  sensed 
the  moment  of  repose,  as  Ibrahim  and  nearly  all 
the  others  present  threw  their  praying-carpets  on 
the  bare  ground,  placed  their  hands  on  their  knees 
and  chanted : 

"Allah  is  great!" 

They  bowed  the  head. 

"I  give  praise  to  Allah!" 

And  fell  upon  their  knees. 

"Allah  Akhbar!"  (Allah  is  great.) 

And  bowed  forward  until  their  foreheads 
touched  the  earth. 

"Subhana  'llah!"  (I  give  praise  to  Allah)  they 
then  repeated  three  times,  as  they  sank  back  on 
their  heels,  followed  by  another  prostration  and 
a  repetition  of  the  same  words.1 

And,  at  the  moment  of  sunrise  and  sunset,  and 
at  other  times,  all  over  the  world,  Mohammedans 

i  The  full  evening  prayer  is  much  longer  and  in  parts  is  poetic 
and  beautiful. 


A  CAMEL-FLIGHT  FOR  LIFE      85 

never  forget  the  morning  and  evening  cry  to 
Allah. 

The  crimson  and  golden  tints  died  out.  The 
clear  sharp  starlight  of  the  desert  filled  the  sky. 

At  once  the  tumult  and  confusion  of  the  khan 
were  resumed.  Small  fires  of  dried  camel-dung 
smoked  here  and  there  for  the  simple  cooking  of 
lumps  of  mutton  in  melted  butter.  In  the  center 
of  the  court  yard,  a  larger  general  fire  was  lighted 
of  brushwood  and  dry  grass-roots,  and  on  this 
was  a  common  pot  out  of  which  many  took  the 
pieces  of  meat  with  their  fingers.  Those  who  had 
dined  took  turns  at  the  bubbling  nargile  or  water- 
pipe.  In  the  corner  several  men  drew  water 
from  a  deep  well  with  a  squeaky  wheel,  and 
chanted  in  chorus  as  they  pulled.  The  savage 
bubble-scream  of  an  angry  camel  rose  above  the 
babel  of  the  braying  of  donkeys  and  the  neighing 
of  horses. 

Then  the  swift  dark  of  the  desert  rushed  over, 
as  though  Night  had  no  time  to  wait  for  the 
departure  of  evening.  The  animals  fell  silent, 
save  for  the  occasional  tinkle  of  a  bell  as  one  or 
another  moved.  The  voices  of  the  men  died  out. 
In  the  distance  a  jackal  cried.  The  khan  went  to 
sleep. 


86       WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

The  desert  does  not  sleep.  The  stars  inarch 
over  it  during  the  night  as  the  sun  did  in  the  day, 
and  the  sand,  the  stars  and  the  sky  keep  up  their 
perpetual  watoh  and  their  perpetual  hush. 

There  was  not  much  sleep  for  the  archaeologist 
that  night,  for  it  was  impossible  to  say  whether 
the  pursuing  party  might  not  have  received  or- 
ders to  follow  night  and  day,  in  which  case,  by 
commandeering  horses  at  certain  posting-stations, 
they  could  soon  overtake  the  camels.  The  night 
passed  quietly,  however,  and  an  early  start  was 
made,  the  American  and  Ibrahim  leaving  the  khan 
at  the  first  rays  of  sunrise.  Indeed  they  were 
well  on  their  way  before  the  sun  appeared  above 
the  horizon.  At  once  rose  the  cry  from  Ibrahim, 
as  he  stroked  his  beard  like  every  devout  Moslem 
believer : 

"I  witness  that  there  is  no  God  but  God  and 
that  Mohammed  is  his  prophet!" 

In  spite  of  the  haste  of  the  journey,  Ibrahim 
stopped  the  camel,  set  his  praying-carpet  on  the 
ground  and  commenced  his  morning  orisons, 
facing  Mecca.  In  a  measure,  he  was  not  afraid 
of  his  pursuers  overtaking  him  during  this  ex- 
ercise, for  it  was  absolutely  certain  that  they, 
wherever  they  were,  were  repeating  the  same  long 


A  CAMEL-FLIGHT  FOR  LIFE      87 

ritual,  with  exactly  the  same  gestures  and  in  ex- 
actly the  same  words. 

No  matter  where  he  happens  to  be  or  what  he 
may  be  doing,  the  Mohammedan  never  forgets  to 
pray  when  the  hour  of  devotion  has  arrived.  The 
laborer  in  the  fields  will  let  fall  his  tools,  the 
merchant  bargaining  in  the  bazaar  will  set  down 
the  cloth  he  is  seeking  to  sell,  donkey-drivers  will 
drop  down  by  the  roadside,  courts  of  law  will 
suspend  business,  even  on  a  traveling  railway- 
train  many  will  carry  out  the  worship. 

When  two  hours'  travel  away  from  the  khan 
Ibrahim  stopped  suddenly. 

"0  Man  of  Peace,"  he  said,  "from  here  you 
must  go  alone.  The  camels  will  not  aid  you,  and 
I  cannot.  See,  here  is  a  pilgrim's  dress.  Put  it 
on.  You  must  lie  by  the  roadside  as  though  hurt 
or  ill,  and  when  the  caravan  we  left  behind  at  the 
khan  overtakes  you,  appeal  for  help.  Say  that 
you  were  with  the  former  caravan  which  passed 
here  yesterday,  but  fell  ill  and  were  left  behind. 
You  are  old.  You  speak  Arabic  well.  You  un- 
derstand Islam." 

The  archaeologist  looked  at  Ibrahim  in  astonish- 
ment. He  could  not  understand  this  sudden  de- 
sertion. 


''And  you?"  he  asked. 

The  Bedouin  looked  out  over  the  desert. 

' 'I  go  on  with  the  two  camels,"  he  said.  "It  is 
sure  that  those  who  follow  will  have  trackers,  who 
can  tell  the  print  of  one  camel's  foot  from  'among 
a  thousand,  and  as  long  as  the  tracks  continue 
across  the  desert,  they  are  not  likely  to  suspect 
that  one  of  the  camels  is  riderless." 

"You  mean  to  draw  the  whole  pursuit  after 
yourself?" 

' '  Even  as  you  say. ' ' 

"But  if  they  catch  you?" 

"That  is  as  Allah  wills,"  the  Bedouin  replied. 

The  camels  knelt  down  and  the  old  archaeologist 
put  on  the  pilgrim  dress. 

"Be  bold,"  said  Ibrahim.  "You  have  gold. 
When  the  caravan  comes,  beg  for  help  and  offer 
to  buy  a  mule.  Some  one  will  arrange  for  you,  by 
shifting  the  pack  from  one  of  the  baggage-animals. 
This  is  important,  for  you  do  not  walk  like  an 
Arab.  Those  who  follow  are  not  likely  to  look 
closely  at  the  band  of  pilgrims  if  the  eyes  of  the 
trackers  can  follow  the  tracks  of  the  two  racing 
camels  continuing  in  front  of  them. ' ' 

"And  if  the  caravan  people  are  suspicious  and 


A  CAMEL-FLIGHT  FOR  LIFE      89 

turn  me  over  to  the  soldiers  or  Arabs,  or  what- 
ever they  are  ? ' '  queried  the  archaeologist. 

"All  paths  are  drawn  by  Allah,"  the  Arab  an- 
swered, "but  the  pilgrims  will  be  even  more  afraid 
of  the  soldiers  than  you.  Allah  with  you ! ' ' 

"The  peace  of  Allah  with  you  a  thousand 
times,"  returned  the  archaeologist,  after  a  few 
sentences  of  gratitude,  at  the  same  time  giving 
Ibrahim,  as  a  parting  gift,  an  old  Egyptian  talis- 
man ring,  adding,  "it  is  true  what  they  say  of  the 
Sons  of  the  Desert:  'the  honor  and  the  horse  of  a 
Bedouin  can  never  be  outstripped/  When  this 
war  is  over  I  shall  come  to  see  you  again." 

"As  Allah  wills,"  the  Bedouin  replied. 

He  mounted  the  saddle  of  the  foremost  camel 
and  set  off  along  the  desert  track.  In  a  few 
minutes  the  shapes  were  merging  against  the 
horizon. 

The  archaeologist  dropped  upon  the  ground  be- 
side the  way,  ready  to  simulate  weakness  when 
the  caravan  of  pilgrims  should  pass  by. 

Within  an  hour  the  head  of  the  pilgrim  caravan 
had  approached.  Some  of  the  pilgrims  were 
trudging  on  foot,  but  others  were  on  mules.  One, 
evidently  a  Pasha,  rode  a  splendid  horse  and  was 


90       WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

followed  by  several  servants.  There  were  sev- 
eral women  in  the  caravan,  seated  in  covered 
wicker  cradles  suspended  on  either  side  of  mules. 

"In  the  name  of  Allah,  the  All-Merciful  and 
the  Compassionate!"  cried  the  archaeologist,  as 
the  Pasha's  train  came  near. 

The  Pasha  reined  up  his  horse,  and  the  Ameri- 
can, feigning  great  weakness,  staggered  toward 
him,  and  told  the  tale  which  had  been  agreed  upon 
with  Ibrahim,  adding,  to  give  color  to  the  story, 
that  he  had  been  a  dealer  in  antiques  and  had 
lived  in  many  countries,  but  that  now  he  was  old 
he  was  determined  to  make  the  pilgrimage  to 
Mecca  before  his  death,  but  that  his  strength  was 
failing. 

The  Pasha  listened,  then  motioned  to  one  of  his 
servants. 

"Give  him  your  mule,"  he  said;  "it  is  written 
that  'the  strong  man  shall  make  place  for  the 
weak,  the  well  for  the  weary.'  " 

The  American  was  profuse  in  thanks  and 
offered  to  pay  the  Pasha. 

"  'To  a  pilgrim,  prayer  is  of  more  value  than 
gold,'  the  Pasha  answered.  "You  may  recom- 
pense the  servant  who  will  have  to  walk.  And,  as 
you  have  been  a  traveler  and  lived  in  strange 


DESERT  TRAVEL:   THE  ANCIENT  WAY. 


DESERT  TRAVEL:   THE  MEDIAEVAL  WAY. 


DESERT  TRAVEL  :   THE  MODERN  WAY. 


A  CAMEL-FLIGHT  FOR  LIFE      91 

countries,  you  will  have  seen  many  things  un- 
known to  my  eyes.  Ride  beside  me  for  a  space, 
that  we  may  lighten  the  length  of  the  way. 
'Learning  is  wise,'  says  the  Prophet,  'if  it  lead 
not  out  of  the  path.'  " 

The  archaeologist  accepted  gratefully,  and  find- 
ing out  that  the  Pasha  was  from  Arabistan,  turned 
the  conversation  to  a  praise  of  the  glories  of  the 
Persian  race,  and  recounted  old  legends  of  the 
country  which  the  Pasha  himself  only  knew  in 
part.  As  a  result,  the  leader  of  the  pilgrims  was 
delighted  with  his  new  companion. 

An  hour  later,  there  came  dashing  up  a  troop 
of  Turkish  horsemen,  with  a  considerable  body  of 
Muntafik  Arabs.  The  archaeologist's  heart  began 
to  beat  more  quickly,  for  he  knew  for  whom  they 
were  seeking. 

The  officer  in  charge  greeted  the  Pasha,  and 
after  the  customary  ceremonial  salutations,  asked, 

"Were  there  two  travelers  on  racing  camels  in 
the  khan  where  you  rested  last  night?" 

"Yes,"  the  Pasha  answered,  "I  saw  them  this 
morning.  They  left  early,  before  our  animals 
were  saddled." 

"Then  they  cannot  be  far  away,"  declared  the 
officer  eagerly. 


92        WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

One  of  the  Pasha's  servants,  desert-born,  spoke, 

* '  They  are  still  in  sight ! ' '  and  pointed  with  his 
finger. 

The  Arabs,  who  were  with  the  Turkish  soldiers, 
caught  sight  of  the  two  specks  on  the  horizon,  and 
with  wild  cries  urged  their  horses  on.  The  Turks 
caught  'the  infection  and  followed.  No  one  for  a 
moment  thought  of  questioning  the  pilgrim  who 
rode  on  the  right  hand  of  the  Pasha. 

The  day  passed,  the  archaeologist  hard  put  to  it 
several  times  to  keep  from  betraying  his  igno- 
rance of  many  of  the  simpler  matters  of  the  pil- 
grimage which  'any  true  Mohammedan  would 
have  known.  As  the  Pasha  did  not  seem  to  be 
of  a  suspicious  character,  however,  the  make-be- 
lieve pilgrim  was  able  to  explain  these  lapses  by 
his  statement  that  he  had  lived  many  years  in  the 
cities  of  the  infidels,  carrying  on  his  trade  in 
antiques  and  gems. 

In  the  middle  of  the  afternoon,  a  cloud  of  dust 
on  the  horizon  gave  rise  to  active  fears  on  the 
part  of  the  pilgrims.  The  dangers  of  an  Arab 
raid  were  always  present,  and  though  the  pilgrims 
had  little  reason  to  fear  for  their  lives — for  no 
Bedouin  would  slay  a  true  believer  on  his  way  to 
Mecca — still,  several  of  the  travelers,  and  espe- 


A  CAMEL-FLIGHT  FOR  LIFE      93 

cially  the  Pasha,  were  traveling  comfortably  and 
had  personal  belongings  of  value  which  might  be 
seized. 

As  the  cloud  of  dust  grew  nearer,  however,  it 
became  evident  that  it  was  created  by  the  Arab 
and  Turkish  horsemen  who  had  passed  them  that 
morning  in  pursuit  of  the  two  racing  camels. 

"If  their  mission  was  just,  may  Allah  have 
granted  them  success,"  exclaimed  the  archaBolo- 
gist  to  the  Pasha. 

The  Persian,  a  true  Shiah,  answered  bitterly, 

"Allah  knows  best  why  he  allows  the  Turk  to 
prosper. ' ' 

There  is  no  love  lost  between  the  Persians  and 
the  Turks.  There  is  less  between  the  Turks  and 
the  Arabs. 

As  the  party  approached,  the  archaeologist 
asked  himself  how  that  extraordinary  Oriental 
empire,  the  Turkish  empire,  can  have  endured  so 
many  years,  when  greater  and  better  empires  have 
vanished  into  dust.  For,  of  all  the  empires  that 
the  world  has  known,  not  only  is  the  Ottoman  em- 
pire one  of  the  weakest,  but  it  is  also  one  of  the 
most  scattered. 

Only  a  very  small  proportion  of  the  Turkish 
empire  is  populated  by  Turks.  In  Europe,  a 


94       WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

large  part  of  the  population  is  Bulgarian,  Al- 
banian, and  Greek;  in  Asia  Minor,  Kurd,  Laz, 
Circassian,  Georgian,  and  Anatolian,  to  say  noth- 
ing of  lesser  tribes;  Syria  possesses  another 
hotchpotch  of  races  and  all  the  deserts  from  the 
foothills  of  Asia  Minor  clear  to  the  south  of 
Arabia  are  inhabited  by  Arabs. 

Through  most  of  this  country,  the  Turkish  au- 
thority exists  only  in  name.  Heavy  taxes  are 
levied,  but  are  not  always  collected;  large  sec- 
tions of  the  country  can  only  be  kept  from  revolt 
by  periodic  indiscriminate  massacres;  tribute  is 
often  nothing  more  or  less  than  plunder  secured 
by  a  Turkish  military  force ;  and  the  Turkish  writ 
does  not  run  in  Arabia.  Nothing  holds  or  has 
held  the  Turkish  empire  together  save  the  re- 
ligious belief  that  the  Sultan  is  the  mouthpiece  of 
Islam  when  the  dignitaries  of  the  church  are  in 
agreement  with  him. 

By  now,  the  party  was  near  enough  for  the 
archaeologist  to  examine  the  riders  carefully  and 
he  could  tell  by  their  aspect  that  Ibrahim  had  not 
been  taken. 

The  Pasha  reined  up  courteously. 

"May  the  Curse  of  Eblis  rest  on  them!"  re- 
plied the  Turkish  officer.  "Half  a  day's  march 


A  CAMEL-FLIGHT  FOR  LIFE     95 

from  here,  there  is  a  wide  stretch  of  soft  and 
shifting  sand,  poor  footing  even  for  camels  but 
impossible  for  horses.  My  Arabs  tell  me  that  this 
belt  of  fine  sand  runs  for  two  days'  marches  to 
the  south,  and  that  before  I  could  return  to  Hillah 
and  secure  camels,  the  two  men  I  am  seeking 
would  be  so  far  ahead  that  we  could  not  overtake 
them  before  they  reached  the  harder  sand  beyond. 
Truly,  0  Pasha,  the  deserts  are  only  fit  for  the 
children  of  Jan. ' ' 

"Was  their  crime  so  great?"  asked  the  Pasha. 

The  archaeologist  leaned  forward  interestedly. 
He  would  learn,  at  least,  for  what  official  reason 
the  Turkish  government  was  seeking  his  head. 

""Well,"  he  said  apologetically,  "it  is  a  Jehad." 

The  Arabistan  Pasha  made  a  slight  deprecatory 
gesture  with  his  hand. 

"I  have  heard  of  it,"  he  said,  "but  do  not 
rightly  understand.  The  Sultan  is  the  servant 
of  the  Prophet,  and  cannot  be  at  the  same  time 
the  servant  of  the  infidel  Kaiser.  Is  it  the  serv- 
ant of  the  Prophet  who  has  called  for  war  or  the 
servant  of  the  Kaiser?" 

"It  is  the  true  believer  against  the  Franji,"  re- 
torted the  Turkish  officer. 

The  Persian  spat  on  the  ground  in  approved 


96       WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

fashion  to  show  his  hatred  of  the  infidel,  but  he 
replied  none  the  less  honestly. 

"The  friend  of  Allah  is  he  who  fulfills  the 
words  of  Allah,  and  not  he  who  says  of  himself, 
'I  am  of  Allah.'  The  Franji — on  whom  be  the 
curse  of  Eblis — are  careful  of  sacred  places  and 
the  true  believers  live  in  peace  under  their  rule. 
I  have  been  in  Beluchistan  and  India,  and  I 
know.  * ' 

' '  The  sword  of  the  believer  is  not  stained  when 
it  takes  the  blood  of  an  infidel,"  the  Turk  rejoined. 
"It  came  to  the  ears  of  the  Bey  that  a  Franji  was 
digging  in  the  ghost-haunted  walls  of  the  cities  of 
the  giants,  unearthing  ancient  curses  against  the 
children  of  Allah." 

The  Pasha  turned  to  the  archaeologist  by  his 
side. 

"You,  0  Merchant,"  he  said,  "have  known 
much  of  such  ancient  things.  Could  there  be 
found  such  curses?" 

The  old  scholar's  heart  leapt  into  his  throat. 
Here  he  was  set  face  to  face  with  the  man  who 
was  seeking  him.  He  realized  at  once  that  to  give 
an  answer  seeming  to  excuse  the  Franji  would  be 
the  likeliest  thing  to  arouse  suspicion,  so  answered 
promptly : 


A  CAMEL-FLIGHT  FOR  LIFE      97 

"  Truly,  there  are  snch  curses.  Once,  in 
Aleppo,  there  was  brought  to  me  a  talisman  with 
a  curse  engraved  thereon.  I  am  but  a  merchant 
and  do  not  know  much  about  such  things,  so  re- 
ferred the  matter  to  the  Cadi.  He  gave  judgment 
in  my  favor,  but  kept  the  gem." 

This  was  so  thoroughly  in  the  character  of  a 
possible  happening,  and  so  fully  the  possible  ex- 
perience of  a  merchant  that  it  drew  no  suspicion. 
Salutations  were  exchanged  'and  the  Turkish  sol- 
diery returned,  empty-handed.  For  the  moment, 
the  archaeologist  was  safe,  though  it  had  been  a 
narrow  escape. 

Moreover,  he  had  learned  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant points  in  the  threat  of  war  which  was 
now  blazing  into  the  Eastern  world,  and  that  was 
that  the  Mohammedan  peoples — who,  far  from  be- 
ing fools  are  usually  very  keen  observers  of  po- 
litical affairs — had  immediately  grasped  the  fact 
that  no  edict  issued  by  a  Sultan  at  the  behest  of  an 
infidel  Kaiser  could  cause  a  Holy  War. 

A  few  days  later,  ambling  slowly  on  the  pil- 
grims' way,  the  archaeologist  was  startled  nearly 
out  of  his  wits  when  the  Pasha  remarked  to  him, 
in  a  quiet,  conversational  tone, 

"0  Merchant,  I  would  give  you  some  advice. 


98        WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

Your  disguise  is  good,  but  it  will  not  serve  you  in 
Mecca." 

The  old  scholar,  for  the  moment,  could  do  noth- 
ing but  gasp. 

The  Pasha  smiled  at  him  kindly. 

"When  the  Turkish  captain  told  of  the  Franji 
who  had  been  digging  for  sorceries  in  -the  ancient 
cities,  and  who  had  escaped  the  day  before,  I 
knew  well  that  it  must  be  you.  Arab  merchants 
are  ignorant;  they  disdain  to  learn  anything  save 
to  haggle  over  prices.  An  Armenian  merchant 
would  pretend  knowledge.  A  Jewish  merchant 
would  know  all  that  was  to  be  known.  You  are 
neither  Arab,  Armenian,  nor  Jew.  You  appear 
suddenly  on  the  roadside  the  very  morning  that 
they  are  searching  for  a  Franji  who  knows  just 
those  things  you  know.  Truly,  0  Merchant,  one 
does  not  have  to  possess  great  wisdom  to  guess 
who  you  may  be. ' ' 

The  archaeologist  saw  that  he  would  lose  the 
favor  of  the  Pasha  by  any  disclaimer. 

"Truly,  0  Pasha,"  he  replied,  "the  Persians 
have  eyes  like  a  hawk.  I  am  that  Franji,  but  I 
need  not  <tell  you  that  the  tale  of  sorceries  is  idle. 
Such  stories  are  for  Turks  and  children." 


A  CAMEL-FLIGHT  FOR  LIFE     99 

Inwardly  gratified  by  this  tribute  to  his  people, 
the  Pasha  continued, 

"That  you  are  escaping  is  clear,  but  you  have 
words  of  wisdom  on  your  lips  and  it  is  the  act  of 
a  fool  to  silence  a  wise  man.  To  me,  on  pilgrim- 
age to  Mecca,  these  Turkish  troubles  no  more 
ruffle  my  mind  than  the  clouds  on  the  horizon  pre- 
vent the  setting  or  rising  of  the  sun.  Yet  I 
should  like  to  know  what  are  your  plans  of  escape. 
I  will  not  help  you  to  Mecca,  but  I  do  not  think 
you  wish  to  go. ' ' 

"Not  being  a  Believer,"  answered  the  archae- 
ologist, "I  should  be  guilty  of  sacrilege  if  I  went 
to  the  Holy  City.  It  was  my  plan  to  branch  off, 
in  the  night,  shortly  before  reaching  the  Holy 
City  and  join  myself  to  a  returning  caravan  on 
the  way  that  goes  through  Akabah.  Thus  I 
should  get  to  Egypt,  where  I  should  find  the  Eng- 
lish and  my  friends." 

The  Pasha  bent  his  brows  in  thought. 

"It  will  take  you  weeks,  perhaps  months,"  he 
said,  "to  make  that  voyage,  and,  when  you  get 
into  the  territory  of  the  Shereef  of  Mecca,  if  there 
is  even  a  hint  that  you  are  not  a  true  believer,  even 
the  Shereef  himself  could  not  help  you." 


ioo      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

"Yet,"  responded  the  American,  "so  far  as  I 
can  see,  it  is  the  only  way." 

The  Pasha  rode  on  thoughtfully. 

"When  the  English  came  into  my  district,"  he 
said,  "they  were  honest  to  my  people  and  by  the 
building  of  a  great  pipe  to  carry  oil  down  from 
the  mountains  to  the  sea,  they  made  many  of  my 
people  prosperous.  It  is  written,  'He  who  re- 
fuses to  do  a  good  act  when  it  lies  in  his  path  is 
as  he  who  throws  a  stone  into  a  well. '  ' ' 

"You  have  helped  me,"  replied  the  archaeolo- 
gist. "I  might  have  been  in  a  Turkish  prison 
now  but  for  your  kindly  silence." 

"You  are  not  safe  from  a  Turkish  prison  yet," 
the  Pasha  continued.  "I  have  been  thinking  that 
it  would  be  wiser  if  you  were  to  try  to  reach  Jeru- 
salem, instead  of  Akabah.  The  Sinaitic  Desert  is 
difficult  to  cross.  Besides,  in  Jerusalem,  since  it 
is  a  Holy  City  not  only  for  the  true  believer  but 
also  for  the  Christian  and  the  Jew,  there  will  be 
less  suspicion." 

"But  the  desert  lies  between  here  and  Jerusa- 
lem," came  the  objection. 

"There  is  a  way  by  which  it  may  be  crossed  at 
Jauf,"  the  Pasha  answered.  "I  have  friends  in 
Damascus.  If  I  should  give  you  letters  to  Damas- 


A  CAMEL-FLIGHT  FOR  LIFE     101 

cus,  as  tuough  touching  on  important  matters  of 
business  which  need  to  be  attended  to  in  my  ab- 
sence, there  would  be  a  reason  for  your  crossing 
along  the  edge  of  the  Jebel  Shammar  range  of 
hills,  where  there  are  a  few  wells  and  enough 
scanty  herbage  for  a  single  horse  to  crop.  Once 
arrived  on  that  route  you  are  near  the  Hedjaz  rail- 
road, and  could  take  the  train  as  far  as  Damas- 
cus." 

The  sunken  eyes  of  the  archaeologist  glowed  at 
this  program. 

"0  Pasha,"  he  said,  "the  plan  is  one  which 
might  be  expected  from  one  of  your  learning  and 
wisdom.  Since  you  know  so  much  of  my  difficul- 
ties, let  me  tell  you  all, ' '  and  he  proceeded  to  tell 
the  Pasha  concerning  David,  left  to  his  own  re- 
sources amid  the  ruins  of  Babylon. 

"I  have  one  son  myself,"  declared  the  Pasha 
when  the  American  had  finished,  "still  very 
young.  By  the  Beard  of  the  Prophet,  I  will  help 
you  to  the  marrow  of  my  bones ! ' ' 

The  rest  of  the  afternoon  was  spent  in  discuss- 
ing plans,  for  the  next  day  the  caravan  would  be 
nearing  Kauf,  where  the  archaeologist  would  have 
to  take  the  desert  all  by  himself,  although  not 
knowing  either  the  exact  location  of  the  wells  or 


102      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

where  to  seek  forage  grounds.  Not  being  a  regu- 
lar caravan  route,  there  would  be  no  khans  along 
the  way. 

Next  morning,  soon  after  the  caravan  started, 
the  archaeologist  bade  good-by  to  the  Pasha  and 
started  out  for  Kauf.  There  was  a  faint  track  in 
the  sand  and  the  American  rode  steadily.  The 
sand  of  the  desert  was  hard,  and  the  marks  of  the 
•spongy  feet  of  camels  had  rested  clearly,  though 
the  marks  looked  as  though  weeks  had  passed  since 
any  passed  that  way.  That  night  he  camped  un- 
der the  stars,  and  reached  Kauf  in  safety  on  noon 
of  the  next  day. 

Armed  with  the  Pasha's  letters,  the  archaeolo- 
gist Basked  boldly  for  a  crossing  to  the  pilgrim 
route  to  Damascus,  but  received  little  response  to 
his  inquiries.  The  little  settlement  was  frankly 
hostile  to  strangers  and  the  archaeologist  stayed 
awake  all  night,  his  hand  upon  his  revolver. 

He  started  westward  with  the  break  of  dawn, 
only  the  vaguest  directions  in  his  mind.  He  had 
been  in  the  saddle  but  two  or  three  hours  when  he 
saw  three  Arabs  come  spurring  towards  him, 
uttering  fierce  yells,  their  spear-points  threaten- 
ing him. 

They  wasted  no  time  in  words. 


A  CAMEL-FLIGHT  FOR  LIFE     103 

* '  Dismount ! ' '  ordered  the  former. 

The  arohaBologist  put  his  hand  on  his  revolver 
and  then  hesitated.  He  was  an  old  man,  though 
lean  and  vigorous  still,  and  he  had  always  been  of 
a  peaceful  character.  He  had  never  shot  a  man 
in  his  life,  although  on  more  than  one  occasion  he 
had  been  in  difficulties  with  Arab  raiders.  He 
could  not  be  sure  that  he  was  good  enough  shot 
and  the  odds  of  three  against  one  were  too  heavy 
except  for  an  adept  gun-fighter,  which  the  old 
scholar  was  not. 

He  reined  up. 

"I  am  on  my  way  to  Damascus,"  he  began,  but 
jthe  leader  of  the  three  interrupted  him. 

1  'Dismount,"  he  said.  "No  servant  of  a  Per- 
sian dog  shall  ride  a  horse  when  there  is  room  for 
more  horses  in  the  bands  of  a  Sheik." 

The  leader  made  a  sign  to  one  of  his  followers, 
who  shortened  hold  on  his  spear  and  rode  in 
closer. 

This  was  more  threatening  than  any  speech  and 
the  old  scholar  dismounted  hastily.  One  of  the 
horsemen  dismounted  also  and  quickly  searched 
his  girdle  and  saddle-bags.  Every  piece  of  money 
he  possessed  was  taken,  all  his  changes  of  clothing. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  papers  in  the  little  satchel 


104     WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

were  thrown  down  on  the  sand  at  his  feet,  his  al- 
ready partly  emptied  water-bottle  was  refilled  and 
set  beside  him.  All  the  food  in  his  saddle-bags 
was  returned. 

1  'Allah  grant  you  <a  good  journey,"  said  they, 
and  rode  away. 

This  was  not  sarcasm,  nor,  in  truth,  were  the 
Arabs  planning  any  definite  harm.  If  the 
stranger  died, — well,  after  all,  that  was  his  affair, 
a  chance  he  took  in  coming  into  their  country. 

The  old  scholar,  though  the  sun  was  beating 
down  on  his  head,  though  he  knew  he  had  at  least  a 
hundred  and  twenty  miles  to  walk  before  he  found 
an  oasis,  set  his  feet  firmly  to  the  west  and  com- 
menced his  tramp  across  the  desert.  Fortu- 
nately, he  had  passed  the  sand  and  come  to 
rocky  ground,  hard  and  firm  for  walking.  And, 
as  he  strode  along,  the  old  archaeologist  thought 
within  himself  as  to  the  curious  point  of  view  of 
•the  desert  Arabs,  who  will  share  their  last  crumb 
and  their  last  drop  of  water  with  a  stranger  if  he 
comes  to  their  tent  and  asks  their  hospitality,  but 
who  will,  at  the  same  time,  rob  him  of  everything 
he  possesses  should  they  chance  themselves  to  be 
the  aggressors. 


A  CAMEL-FLIGHT  FOR  LIFE     105 

He  remembered  how,  many  years  ago,  a  Sheik 
had  explained  this  to  him. 

"We,  the  Sons  of  the  Desert,"  he  said,  "have 
never  been  conquered.  Not  until  the  desert  has 
been  conquered  shall  we  be  conquered.  When  the 
Turkish  soldiers  come  to  the  town  and  force  their 
will,  we  go  to  the  deserts,  where  they  dare  not 
follow  us.  Some  times  they  can  find  the  encamp- 
ment of  a  Sheik  but  it  is  seldom  that  they  can 
force  us  to  pay  tribute  and  <they  do  not  dare  to 
take  our  flocks. 

"Yet,  we  do  not  forget  that  it  is  they  who  are 
the  intruders.  The  Prophet  gave  the  desert  to  the 
Sons  of  the  Desert.  If,  because  of  the  Turks,  we 
can  no  longer  levy  honest  and  regular  tribute  from 
all  the  caravans  which  pass,  then  we  must  levy  the 
tribute  as  we  can.  When  we  plunder  a  caravan, 
we  are  only  collecting  the  taxes  which  should  be 
ours,  but  for  the  usurpation  of  Turkey. ' ' 

The  archaeologist  remembered  that,  at  the  time, 
he  had  thought  there  was  a  great  deal  of  justice  in 
the  Arab  Sheik's  position.  He  felt  it  less  clearly 
now. 

As  noon  drew  near,  he  found  himself  near  some 
of  the  overhanging  rock  edges  of  that  plateau  edge 


106      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

which  is  known  as  the  Jebel  Shammar  and  lay 
down  to  sleep.  He  knew  that  his  body  would 
support  the  strain  better  if  he  walked  as  much  as 
he  could  by  night,  and  rested  by  day. 

All  that  night  he  traveled  and  when  morning 
came  found  on  the  -sand  the  marks  of  gazelle 
tracks.  At  the  risk  of  going  a  long  way  out  of  his 
way,  he  followed  the  tracks  and  after  a  couple  of 
hours'  walking,  found  a  little  marshy  pool  in  the 
bed  of  an  otherwise  dry  wady. 

Promptly  stripping,  the  old  scholar  lay  for 
some  minutes  in  the  undrinkable  water,  so  that 
his  body  might  suck  up  as  much  moisture  as  pos- 
sible. Then  he  went  to  sleep.  Waking,  early  in 
the  afternoon  he  gathered  some  grass  roots  and 
made  a  fire.  In  the  tin  dispatch-case  he  wore  at 
his  waist  containing  his  papers,  he  boiled  the 
water,  repeating  this  until  he  had  filled  his  water- 
skin  with  the  boiled  water.  It  was  foul,  and  the 
taste  was  far  from  pleasant,  but  the  American 
knew  well  that  by  boiling  it  he  had  done  much  to 
stand  off  the  many  fevers  and  diseases  to  which 
the  native-born  Son  of  the  Desert  is  slightly  more 
immune. 

He  walked,  gallant  old  American,  all  that  night 
again,  covering  another  twenty-five  or  thirty 


A  CAMEL-FLIGHT  FOR  LIFE     107 

miles  of  the  desert.  There  was  no  shade  this 
time,  and  only  enough  dates  and  grain  for  that 
day's  food.  An  oasis  with  waving  palm-trees 
and  shining  lake  mocked  him  in  the  distance.  He 
set  his  teeth  and  walked  away  from  it.  Many 
men  have  died  on  the  desert,  chasing  the  mirage. 

It  was  a  dreary  land  of  death,  and  the  archae- 
ologist found  himself  wishing  even  for  the  face 
of  an  enemy  amid  such  utter  solitude.  The  only 
living  creature  to  be  seen  was  the  little  dried-up 
lizard  of  the  plain  that  looked  as  if  he  never  had  a 
drop  of  moisture  in  his  ugly  body,  and  the  jerboa 
or  jumping  rat,  one  of  the  few  creatures  of  the 
world  that  can  live  without  water.  One  stretch 
of  black  pebbles  with  a  little  sand  between,  gave 
place  to  another  similar  patch.  The  hours  passed 
like  an  ugly  dream.  Only  one  herb  brushed  his 
weary  feet  from  time  to  time,  the  bitter  and 
poisonous  colocynth. 

Next  night  he  wandered  on.  There  was  no 
water  in  the  skin.  The  stars  did  not  seem  to 
keep  their  places,  but  wandered  over  the  heavens. 
The  archaeologist  realized  that  he  was  half-de- 
lirious from  exhaustion  and  thirst,  but,  none  the 
less,  he  kept  the  North  Star  on  his  right  hand 
nearly  all  the  time,  and  staggered  on. 


io8      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

When  dawn  came  there  was  no  water  in  sight, 
but  there  were  here  and  there  some  scanty 
tussocks  of  grass.  That  meant,  and  the  old 
scholar  knew  it  well,  <that  moisture  could  not  be 
very  far  below  the  ground.  He  searched  for  a 
dip  in  the  land  and  commenced  to  scoop  out  the 
sand  with  his  hands.  It  fell  in  again,  almost  as 
fast  as  he  could  throw  it  out,  but  after  an  hour's 
work,  he  reached  a  cooler,  moister  sand.  Actual 
water  there  was  not,  but  there  was  coolness  at  the 
least.  Scooping  down  as  far  as  he  could,  he  filled 
the  tin  in  which  he  had  kept  his  papers  with  the 
moist  sand,  and  then,  by  pressing  it  hard,  forced 
up  a  teaspoonf  ul  of  liquid. 

There  was  no  food  that  day.  The  scorpions 
11  tick-ticked"  around  him  as  he  slept,  his  head 
protected  by  some  tussocks  of  grass  which  he  had 
piled  up  into  a  sort  of  bower  eighteen  inches 
high,  just  deep  enough  for  his  head  to  rest  with- 
out broiling  out  his  brains.  Should  a  simoom  or 
desert  sand-storm  rise,  he  knew  his  bones  would 
whiten  on  the  black-pebbled  sands. 

That  next  night  he  heard  the  howling  of  jackals. 
In  some  way,  he  never  knew  quite  how,  he  reached 
the  place  where  they  were  feasting.  He  joined 
their  horrid  feast — there  is  no  need  to  specify 


A  CAMEL-FLIGHT  FOR  LIFE     109 

what  it  was — snapping  beast-like  at  the  prey  to- 
gether with  the  jackals,  the  hyenas,  the  vultures, 
and  other  eaters  of  carrion.  It  was  revolting, 
nauseating,  but  it  gave  him  strength  to  go  on. 
Three  nights  and  part  of  three  days,  he  had  stag- 
gered forward,  knowing  nothing  save  that  he  was 
driving  in  a  westerly  direction.  On  the  fourth 
morning  he  saw  in  the  distance  the  black  tents  of 
an  Arab  encampment.  They  were  not  more  than 
three  or  four  miles  away,  but  the  sun  was  high  be- 
fore he  had  crawled  on  hands  and  knees  near 
enough  to  attract  attention.  Then  some  of  the 
Arabs  saw  the  moving  figure  and  rode  out  to  in- 
vestigate. 

There  was  then  no  hesitation.  The  American, 
almost  at  the  point  of  death,  was  taken  into  the 
Sheik's  tent,  and  tended  as  though  he  had  been 
one  of  the  tribesmen.  Two  days  passed  before 
he  was  sufficiently  recovered  to  speak.  Then  he 
told  his  story,  the  Arabs  crowding  into  the 
Sheik's  tent  to  hear  the  tale. 

When  he  had  finished  there  was  a  long  silence. 
At  last  the  Sheik  spoke. 

"It  is  the  Holy  War,"  he  said,  "and,  Franji,  we 
are  at  war  with  your  people.  After  two  suns  have 
risen  we  go  down  to  take  the  Suez  Canal  away 


i  io      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

from  the  Franji  and  to  place  all  the  lands  of  the 
Prophet  under  the  Prophet's  rule  again. 

"But  it  is  written  that  'no  man  treads  upon  the 
path  save  the  one  that  Allah  has  made  for  him  to 
tread, '  and  since  he  led  you  to  our  tents,  it  must  be 
the  will  of  Allah  that  we  should  help  you  to  your 
own  people.  It  is  no  work  for  a  warrior  to  fight 
those  who  are  not  warriors,  and,  by  your  tale,  you 
are  a  man  of  peace.  You  shall  ride  south  with  us, 
and  when  we  come  close  to  the  Franji  lines  you 
shall  go.  You  will  not  betray  our  secrets,  since 
we  admit  you  to  companionship  and  honor." 

Which  oath  the  old  scholar  gladly  took. 

And  so  it  came  about  that  when  a  skirmish  ad- 
vance was  made  towards  the  Suez  Canal,  a  short 
distance  from  El-Kantara,  the  British  in  the 
trenches  were  surprised  to  see  a  solitary  figure 
advance  from  the  enemy's  lines,  carrying  a  white 
flag,  and  walk  to  the  edge  of  the  canal. 

Honoring  the  flag  of  truce,  but  wondering 
greatly,  the  British  sent  a  boat  across  to  the  gaunt 
figure,  standing  alone  on  the  banks  of  that  great 
waterway  which  joins  the  West  to  the  East.  The 
old  archaeologist  wars  conducted  at  once  to  the 
Commanding  Officer,  to  whom  he  told  his  story. 


From  "Sphere":    U.  S.  Copyright,  Jf.  Y.  Herald  Co. 

FOUR  HUNDRED  MILES  OF  DESERT  SENTINELS. 

The  line  of  British  power  across  the  neck  of  Asia  Minor  from  the  Medi- 
terranean, through  Damascus  and  Bagdad,  to  the  Persian  Gulf. 


A  CAMEL-FLIGHT  FOR  LIFE     in 

"And  now,  what  can  I  do  for  you,  Professor 
Surch  ? ' '  the  officer  asked. 

"Give  me  something  to  do,"  was  the  reply. 
"Interpreter,  perhaps,  or  in  the  medical  depart- 
ment. I  am  an  M.D.,  though  I  haven't  practiced 
for  years,  but  I  know  Turkish,  Arabic  and  a  dozen 
dialects." 

"But,"  said  the  colonel,  "after  all  your  experi- 
ences, why  don't  you  go  home  to  America,  and 
take  things  easy  until  the  war  is  over!" 

"I  left  my  boy  David  alone,  on  the  ruins  of 
Babylon,"  the  sturdy  old  scholar  answered, 
"with  battle  flaming  on  the  horizon  and  hostile 
tribes  around  him.  I'm  going  back  across  the 
desert  to  get  David,  sir.  It's  the  West  against 
the  East  and  I  know  the  West  will  win.  Some- 
where I  can  be  of  use.  A  man's  never  too  old  to 
help,  and  I  mean  to  find  my  boy." 


CHAPTER  IV 

CAUGHT  IN  A  TURKISH  TRAP 

STUNNED  by  his  discovery  of  the  pencil  marks  on 
the  slab  which,  in  cuneiform  character,  recorded 
the  victory  of  a  Babylonian  King,  David  stared  at 
his  father's  message.  He  knew  that  the  urgency 
must  have  been  extreme  for  his  father  thus  prac- 
tically to  desert  him  in  a  foreign  land,  and  he 
shrewdly  suspected  that  one  of  his  father's  in- 
tentions had  been  to  draw  the  line  of  pursuit 
away  from  him. 

This  was  actually  the  case,  and,  as  it  after- 
wards turned  out,  had  David  been  with  his  father 
on  the  flight,  the  old  archaeologist  could  never 
have  simulated  a  pilgrim  with  the  Persian  cara- 
van, and  the  Turkish  officer  would  infallibly  have 
detected  a  boy  among  the  pilgrims. 

Of  all  this,  of  course,  David  was  unaware.  He 
had  nothing  to  go  upon  save  his  father's  advice 
to  try  to  reach  Basra,  where  the  merchant  Fer- 
guson, also  an  American,  would  aid  him.  True,  he 

112 


CAUGHT  IN  A  TURKISH  TRAP     113 

had  a  horse.  Then,  as  he  thought  over  the  phrase 
in  the  writing,  "your  game-bag  will  provide  you 
with  all  you  need  for  the  journey,"  David  re- 
membered the  tablet  that  he  had  dug  up  near  the 
mosque.  The  old  archaeologist's  meaning  was 
clear.  Gems  were  currency  in  a  land  where 
money  was  seldom  seen. 

Having  thoroughly  memorized  his  father's 
message,  David  picked  up  handful  after  handful  of 
dry  sand,  and  scrubbed  at  the  slab  until  not  a  sign 
of  the  lead-pencil  marks  was  to  be  seen.  It  was 
unlikely  that  any  one  would  come  that  way,  less 
likely  that  any  one  would  notice  the  marks,  and 
highly  improbable  that  any  one  who  did  see  them 
would  be  able  to  read  English.  But  it  was  as 
well  to  make  sure. 

Then  slowly  and  thoughtfully,  David  went  to 
find  his  horse  tethered  by  the  Mound  of  Bel. 
Well  he  knew  that  no  good  Moslem  would  come 
near  the  place  before  daylight. 

Many  a  time  had  the  boy  heard  the  legend  about 
Maroot  and  Haroot,  who  are  suspended  by  the 
heels,  though  invisible,  above  the  Mound  of  Bel, 
and  who  must  stay  there  till  the  Day  of  Judg- 
ment. 

Haroot  and  Maroot,  the  old  tradition  tells,  were 


ii4     WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

two  angels  who  were  on  earth  during  the  time  of 
King  Solomon.  They  grew  jealous  of  his  wisdom 
and  of  his  power,  and  joined  with  the  children  of 
Jan  and  the  demons  in  resisting  the  works  of  the 
Wise  King.  But,  so  great  was  the  power  of  Sol- 
omon, they  could  reverse  none  of  his  decrees. 
Only,  they  spread  abroad  in  the  minds  of  the  peo- 
ple a  belief  that  Solomon  did  all  his  wonders  by 
means  of  books  of  magic  and  that  he  commanded 
the  djinns,  the  genii,  the  Afrites  and  other  sup- 
ernatural powers  of  the  world  not  by  means  of 
his  wisdom,  but  by  means  of  the  magic  signs  and 
symbols  found  in  his  cabalistic  books. 

After  the  death  of  Solomon  they  brought  these 
books  forth  and  many  people  fell  under  the  power 
of  the  demons  because  they  studied  magic  in  the 
hope  of  attaining  the  wisdom  of  Solomon,  not 
knowing  that  all  wisdom  is  from  Allah  alone,  and 
that  it  is  Allah  who  permits  the  veil  of  human 
folly  to  be  drawn  from  the  eyes  of  certain  whom 
He  wills. 

It  was  for  this,  the  tradition  runs,  that  Neb- 
uchadnezzar took  the  vessels  of  gold  and  all  the 
treasures  from  the  Temple  of  Jerusalem,  for 
Nebuchadnezzar  wished  the  wisdom  of  Solomon. 
(The  Mohammedan  tradition  follows  closely  the 


CAUGHT  IN  A  TURKISH  TRAP     115 

Bible  story  of  Nebuchadnezzar's  humiliation  in 
becoming  as  one  of  the  beasts  of  the  field.) 

After  the  death  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  so  the  leg- 
end states,  when  there  was  strife  among  men,  the 
two  angels  Haroot  and  Maroot  were  sent  to  Baby- 
lon to  teach  justice  and  equity.  They  ruled  over 
the  hearts  of  men  for  some  little  time  until  Venus, 
the  most  beautiful  of  all  the  heathen  goddesses, 
came  to  plead  her  cause  against  her  husband  be- 
fore the  two  angels. 

Thereupon,  largely  because  their  hearts  had 
been  diverted  from  thoughts  of  All-ai.  by  their 
study  of  the  books  of  magic,  they  were  dazzled 
by  the  beauty  and  the  charms  of  Venus.  They, 
forgetting  that  the  true  judge  is  He  whose  eyes 
are  blind  to  the  person  or  riches  of  a  suitor  in  a 
case,  not  only  yielded  to  their  partiality,  but  told 
her  of  their  feelings.  Whereupon  she  vanished 
and,  by  the  will  of  Allah,  the  fallen  angels  were 
suspended  in  the  air  by  their  heels  until  the  Judg- 
ment Day  over  the  Palace  where  they  had  shown 
themselves  willing  to  give  false  judgment. 

David  was  not  afraid  of  Haroot  and  Maroot 
and  went  boldly  to  the  mound,  where,  as  he  ex- 
pected, he  found  his  horse  tied  by  the  bridle. 
But,  before  mounting,  he  looked  around  at  the 


ii6      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

desert  to  the  west,  at  the  mounds  of  Babylon,  at 
the  river  Euphrates  rolling  beside  its  fringe  of 
palm-itrees.  Basra  was  to  the  south,  along  the 
Tigris,  five  hundred  miles  away,  an  easy  though 
long  voyage  by  water,  but  a  journey  difficult  and 
wearisome  by  land.  David's  instructions  had 
been  to  get  to  Basra,  but  his  father  had  not  said 
whether  he  should  try  to  ride  all  the  way,  though 
the  providing  of  a  horse  suggested  it.  If  war 
were  breaking  out,  it  was  sure  that  every  inch  of 
the  Tigris  would  be  guarded  by  the  Turks.  That 
was  the  chief  danger.  Perhaps  he  ought  to  try 
to  follow  the  course  of  the  Euphrates,  until  it 
joins  the  Tigris  a>t  Basra. 

The  Mesopotamian  country  is  strangely  sit- 
uated. It  is  nothing  more  or  less  than  a  deep 
marsh  valley  lying  between  the  high  plateau  of 
the  Syrian  and  Arabian  deserts  to  the  west  and 
the  mountains  of  Asia  Minor  and  Persia  to  the 
north  and  west.  As  the  mountain  slopes  are 
high,  with  heavy  snows  in  winter,  the  two  rivers 
of  that  double  valley,  the  Tigris  and  the  Eu- 
phrates, come  down  in  terrible  floods  in  the 
Spring.  As  the  banks  are  of  a  dusty  character 
continually  blown  over  with  fine  sand  from  the 


desert,  they  have  no  permanent  channel  and  are 
very  -shallow,  so  that  the  flood  waters  makes  mil- 
lions of  acres  of  marshes  during  January,  Feb- 
ruary and  March,  which,  during  the  rest  of  the 
year,  become  plains  of  a  fine,  impalpable,  chok- 
ing dust. 

At  the  stretch  where  the  great  ruins  were  built, 
Babylon,  Seleucia,  Ctesiphon,  Bagdad,  the  rivers 
approach  as  close  to  each  other  as  eighteen  miles 
and  the  whole  valley  is  less  than  forty  miles 
across.  At  the  widest  point,  near  Amara,  the 
valley  reaches  two  hundred  miles  across.  Much 
of  this,  however,  is  permanent  swamp. 

It  was  the  fifth  of  November,  1914.  Reports, 
hardly  more  than  rumors,  had  reached  the  expedi- 
tion camp  with  regard  to  the  progress  of  the  war. 
It  was  known  that  Germany's  first  advance  had 
failed,  it  was  known  that  the  Russians  had  thor- 
oughly demoralized  the  Austrians.  It  was  known 
that  a  Jehad  had  been  proclaimed,  but  David  did 
not  know  whether  Turkey  was  actually  in  the  war. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  war  had  been  declared  on 
November  1,  Turkey  having  been  compelled  to 
assist  Germany,  because  the  Kaiser  had  aided  the 
Sultan  to  defy  the  Powers  of  Europe  when  Abdul 


u8      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

Ilamid  was  about  to  be  made  to  suffer  for  the  un- 
speakable atrocities  committed  by  the  Turks  on 
Armenians  and  other  Christians. 

In  utter  confusion  as  to  the  best  means  of  reach- 
ing Basra,  David  bethought  himself  of  his  new- 
made  friend,  Abd-el-Imhammad,  the  Arab  he  had 
encountered  at  the  mosque.  He  knew  Bedouin 
life  well  enough  to  be  sure  that  if  he  went  boldly 
to  his  tent  and  claimed  protection  and  hospitality, 
it  would  be  given  him  without  stint.  He  under- 
stood sufficiently  the  intense  fanatic  spirit  of  Mo- 
harpmedanism  to  realize  that  his  action  in  trying 
to  save  a  mosque  from  desecration  would  secure 
him  the  fiery  friendship  of  every  Moslem  who 
knew  of  the  occurrence. 

David  decided,  as  he  stood  by  the  Mound  of 
Bel  that  night,  that  he  would  try  to  reach  Basra 
and  find  Ferguson  as  his  father  had  suggested, 
but  first  he  would  try  to  secure  aid,  or,  at  least, 
information  from  Abd-el-Imhammad.  First, 
however,  he  took  out  the  tablet  that  he  had  dug 
up,  pried  out  a  couple  of  the  gems  and  put  them 
in  an  inner  pocket  for  safe-keeping,  then  hid  the 
tablet  in  his  game-bag. 

It  was  not  too  late  to  reach  the  tents  of  his  Arab 
friends  that  evening,  so  David,  feeling  somewhat 


CAUGHT  IN  A  TURKISH  TRAP     119 

lonely  and  deserted  in  spite  of  his  father's 
promise  that  the  separation  would  not  be  for  long, 
sturdily  mounted  his  little  horse  and  set  out  for 
the  encampment. 

It  was  night  when  he  arrived.  The  spear 
standing  upright  at  the  door  of  a  tent  guided 
David  to  the  tent  of  the  Sheik.  At  fourteen  years 
of  age,  a  Bedouin  is  almost  grown  up,  and  David 
knew  that  he  would  receive  greater  respect  if  he 
assumed  equality. 

Like  many  boys  who  speak  two  languages  per- 
fectly, David  was  as  courteous  and  correct  in 
Arabic  as  he  was  slangy  and  neglectful  in  his 
own  tongue,  thus  reflecting  the  customs  of  each 
country.  So,  having  dismounted  at  the  opening  of 
the  Sheik's  tent,  he  proceeded  through  the 
lengthy  forms  of  ceremonial  politeness,  finally 
being  bidden  to  sit  down  on  a  reed  mat,  which  he 
knew  was  for  a  guest  of  honor.  Arab  hospitality 
would  preclude  the  asking  of  any  questions  until 
the  coffee  had  been  drunk. 

In  the  center  of  the  hut  glowed  a  dying  fire,  and 
beside  it,  silently  watching  the  pot  on  the  ashes, 
sat  the  coffee-maker.  Now  and  then  he  scraped 
the  ashes  around  the  pot.  A  thin  veil  of  smoke 
rose  up  slowly  and  dispersed  itself  under  the  low 


120      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

roof  of  the  tent.  The  silence  was  almost  reli- 
gious, the  darkness  suggested  witchcraft  rather 
than  night ;  a  hobgoblin  might  have  sprung  out  of 
the  coffee-maker's  pot  and  not  been  out  of  keeping 
with  the  scene. 

All  at  once,  at  the  back  of  the  tent,  a  hand  was 
raised  and  a  bundle  of  fine  dry  grass-roots  came 
down  on  to  the  fire;  in  sudden  blaze  it  momen- 
tarily lit  up  the  dark  faces,  flared  an  instant, 
flickered,  then  as  rapidly  died  away.  David 
silently  watched  the  coffee-maker  and  his  host, 
who  being  nearest  to  the  fire  was  dimly  visible  in 
its  remaining  light.  The  attention  of  the  one  was 
concentrated  on  his  pot,  that  of  the  other  on  the 
boy. 

The  coffee-maker  reached  out  his  hand  without 
turning  and  one  amongst  the  crowd  at  his  back — 
for,  as  a  matter  of  course,  the  other  members  of 
the  tribe  had  crowded  into  the  Sheik's  tent — 
handed  him  a  massive  iron  spoon  to  which  was 
chained  a  copper  ladle. 

The  Sheik's  younger  son,  obeying  a  nod  from 
his  father,  pulled  a  bag  out  of  a  dark  recess  be- 
hind him;  another  bundle  of  brushwood  was 
thrown  upon  the  fire  and  by  the  light  of  its  sudden, 
almost  startling  blaze,  the  lad  untied  the  bag  and 


CAUGHT  IN  A  TURKISH  TRAP     121 

carefully  counted  out  the  allotted  number  of  ber- 
ries. The  coffee-maker  dropped  them  into  the 
spoon,  for  which  he  had  raked  out  a  hole  in  the 
ashes. 

The  slight  stir  caused  by  these  proceedings  sub- 
sided, the  blaze  died  away  and  the  attention  of  all 
was  again  riveted  on  David  save  that  only  of  the 
coffee-maker,  who  sitting  close  up  to  the  embers, 
now  scraped  the  white  ashes  round  the  pot,  now 
turned  the  roasting  berries  over  with  the  ladle 
chained  to  the  spoon. 

The  silence  was  so  intense  and  so  prolonged, 
that  the  ticking  of  the  lad's  watch  in  his  pocket 
sounded  like  an  intrusive  violation  of  the  western 
world  into  the  comparatively  slow  movement  of 
life  in  the  East. 

Little  by  little  the  berries  browned  until  they 
were  almost  black,  and  the  coffee-maker  emptied 
them  into  a  copper  mortar.  As  he  pounded  them, 
he  caused  the  pestle  to  ring  in  tune  against  the 
sides  of  the  bowl,  a  difficult  art,  for  there  are 
many  songs  of  coffee-making  in  which  the  words 
are  rarely  chanted,  but  which  all  those  present  re- 
peat silently  to  themselves  in  rhythm  with  the 
ringing  of  the  pestle  against  the  copper  bowl. 

Yet,  though  David  knew  that  every  Arab  pres- 


122      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

ent  was  following  the  unsung  words  of  the  song, 
not  a  soul  moved.  Yonder  in  the  night  a  goat 
scratched  himself  against  a  tent-peg.  Darkness 
outside,  darkness  inside,  save  when  a  spark  from 
the  fire  suddenly  revealed  the  setting  of  the  eyes 
that  watched,  the  eyes  of  sedate,  intent  Arab 
faces. 

A  splutter  on  the  fire  as  the  pot  boiled  over  put 
an  end  alike  to  the  tune  and  to  the  meditations 
called  up  by  it.  The  coffee-maker  transferred 
the  ground  berries  to  a  copper  jug  and,  pouring 
the  boiling  water  on  them,  placed  this  second 
pot  on  the  hot  ashes.  All  this  had  taken  fully  an 
hour,  but  now  two  tiny  cups  were  produced,  and 
another  man  moved  nearer  the  fire,  to  rinse  them 
out,  one  by  one,  with  hot  water,  with  a  care  and 
absorption  in  the  process  which  David  felt  to  be 
in  strange  contrast  to  the  simplicity  of  the  task. 

In  the  three  years  that  he  had  been  away  at 
school,  the  boy  had  forgotten  to  a  great  extent  the 
Oriental  slowness  and  intensity  of  -mind.  Now, 
as  he  sat  still,  controlling  himself  with  not  a  little 
difficulty,  he  felt  himself  slipping  back  into  the 
ideas  of  his  childhood,  when  he  had  been  more 
Arab  than  American.  Or,  as  he  vaguely  ex- 
pressed it  to  himself,  he  was  beco-ming  hypnotized 


Ilritish  Official  Photo. 

SHELLS  AND  CARTRIDGES  IN  PLACE  OF  GEMS  AND  PERFUMES  OF  ARABY. 

The  modern  caravan  across  the  Tigris  carries  a  different  freight  from 

that  of  the  time  of  the  "Arabian  Nights". 


CAUGHT  IN  A  TURKISH  TRAP     123 

by  the  slow  intensity  of  the  actions  of  the  coffee- 
maker. 

The  coffee  on  the  fire  came  to  the  boil,  the 
coffee-maker  poured  it  back  to  the  original  pot, 
which  he  again  set  on  the  ashes.  He  then  handed 
the  empty  jug  to  the  cup-washer,  who  rinsed  each 
cup  out  carefully  with  a  few  drops  of  the  coffee, 
left  in  the  pot  for  that  purpose.  Very  quietly, 
very  precisely,  he  placed  each  cup  on  the  ground 
within  easy  reach  of  the  coffee-maker,  then  re- 
tired into  the  background.  Not  a  word  had  been 
spoken. 

The  coffee  on  the  fire  boiled  up.  The  coffee- 
maker  reached  out  his  hand.  David  straightened 
up  in  expectation  that  the  long  rite  was  over,  but 
the  coffee-maker  emptied  the  boiling  liquid  back 
into  the  original  pot  and  replaced  it  on  the  ashes. 

The  fire  now  burned  very  dimly.  Even  the 
man's  form  bending  over  the  glowing  ashes  was 
discernible  only  as  a  black  shadow.  The  stillness 
for  a  few  moments  was  so  great  and  the  con- 
centration of  all  present  centered  so  profoundly  on 
the  bubbling  coffee-pot,  that  vague  remembrances 
of  the  Arabian  Nights  Entertainments  occurred 
to  the  boy.  He  felt  as  if  all  the  meaning  of  life, 
the  past,  present  and  future,  were  being  distilled 


124      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

in  the  black  liquid,  and  that  any  moment  a  genie 
might  arise  out  of  the  pot  and  become  visible  in 
the  mysterious  darkness. 

Again  the  coffee  boiled  up. 

Again  the  man  emptied  the  boiling  liquid  into 
the  other  pot  and  replaced  it  on  the  fire. 

The  stillness  and  the  concentration  became  more 
intense.  Outside,  a  lamb's  sudden  cry  and  the 
mother's  answering  bleat  rang  out  sharply  on  the 
night,  a  distant  reminder  of  a  far-off  world. 
There  were  no  echoes,  and  when  the  sound  died 
away,  the  tent  became  the  center  of  that  heavy 
and  impelling  silence.1 

The  coffee  boiled  up  for  the  last  time. 

The  coffee-maker — though  David  could  only 
think  of  him  as  some  dim  sort  of  a  magician — 
carefully  decanted  a  few  drops  into  each  of  the  two 
little  cups.  One  was  handed  to  David  and  one  to 
the  Sheik. 

1  'In  the  name  of  Allah !"  said  David,  remi- 
niscences of  his  childhood  returning. 

A  second  cup,  or  rather  a  few  drops  in  the 
bottom  of  the  tiny  cup,  was  handed  to  the  boy,  and 
a  second  time  he  drank. 

i  "By  Desert  Ways  to  Bagdad,"  by  Louisa  Jebb  ( Dana  Estes 
&  Co.) 


CAUGHT  IN  A  TURKISH  TRAP     125 

The  third  time  the  cup  was  given  its  few  drops 
and  David,  knowing  the  ceremony,  declined  the 
third  cup.  The  drops  of  thick  and  bitter  liquid 
were  then  handed  on  to  the  next  in  importance  in 
the  tribe,  and  so  on,  until  the  very  last  drop  had 
been  taken.  The  mixture  was  thick  and  bitter. 
When  the  last  drop  had  been  drunk,  the  Sheik 
turned  hospitably  to  his  guest, 

''There  is  no  act  that  man  can  do,  save  those 
which  Allah  has  appointed.  Perhaps  you  may  be 
able  to  tell  us  in  what  way  we  can  help  you.  I 
have  already  heard  that  you  have  shown  dis- 
cretion at  the  mosque,  even  though  not  one  of  the 
true  believers. " 

Whereupon  David,  thus  encouraged,  told  the 
entire  story  of  the  day,  the  warning  of  Ibrahim, 
the  threat  of  the  dervish,  his  father's  surmises 
concerning  the  war,  the  attempt  of  the  German 
excavators  to  embroil  the  Americans  in  Arab 
hatred,  and,  finally,  his  return  to  the  site  of  the 
expedition  camp  and  his  father's  advice  to  try  to 
reach  Basra. 

When  the  boy  had  finished  there  was  a  long 
silence,  and  then  one  of  the  Arabs  spoke  out  of 
the  darkness. 

"One  of  the  family  of  Agaid,"  he  said,  refer- 


i26      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

ring  to  a  tribe  of  Arabs,  "told  me  this  morning 
that  there  were  many  Turkish  soldiers  going 
from  Bagdad  to  Basra  by  rafts. ' '  , 

This  was  disconcerting  news. 

"Why  are  they  going  down  to  Basra?"  asked 
David,  in  the  hope  of  finding  further  information. 

The  same  Arab  replied. 

"The  Turks  at  Fao  have  been  beaten  back  by 
the  Franji,"  came  the  startling  information. 

David  stared  moodily  at  the  dim  red  spot  on  the 
floor  which  was  all  that  showed  of  the  remains  of 
the  fire.  He  wondered  if  the  Arab's  information 
were  correct. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  it  was  exact.  The  War  in 
the  East  had  already  begun  and  the  bitter  fight 
for  Mesopotamia  was  just  at  hand.  Though  no 
one  knew  it,  that  very  place  on  which  the  tents 
were  pitched,  that  very  plain  between  the  rivers, 
was  to  be  drenched  again  with  blood,  and,  though 
wars  had  been  fought  between  the  Tigris  and  Eu- 
phrates rivers  many  a  thousand  years  before,  the 
bitterest  and  bloodiest  war  was  that  which  was 
yet  to  come. 

While  waiting  for  the  Sheik  or  some  other  of 
the  Arabs  to  speak,  David  harked  back  in  his  mind 
for  the  explanations  his  father  had  given  him 


CAUGHT  IN  A  TURKISH  TRAP     127 

from  time  to  time  as  to  the  causes  of  the  British 
influence  in  the  Tigris  and  Euphrates  valleys. 

Below  Basra,  as  the  archaeologist  had  explained, 
there  are  two  great  divisions  of  the  Arab  peoples. 
They  are  themselves  divided  into  tribes  and  tribal 
groups,  but  are  allied  in  strong  confederations. 
On  the  Mesopotamian  side  of  the  Shatt-el-Arab — 
which  is  the  name  given  to  the  combined  Tigris 
and  Euphrates  rivers  after  they  join  at  Qurnah — 
this  confederation  is  for  the  purpose  of  resisting 
Turkish  aggression,  and  is  under  the  direction 
of  the  Sheik  of  Kuweit.  The  other  confederation 
is  formed  for  the  purpose  of  resisting  Persian 
aggression  and  lies  on  the  Arabistan  side  of  the 
river,  under  the  rule  of  the  Sheik  of  Muhammerah. 

For  generations  the  favorite  occupations  of  the 
coast  Arabs  in  these  regions  have  been  piracy 
and  slave-trading.  Now  piracy  has  been  a  very 
serious  menace  to  the  Sheik  of  Kuweit,  for  just 
off  his  territories  lie  the  two  islands,  Bahrein  and 
Mubarak  in  the  Persian  Gulf,  noted  for  fine 
pearls.  As  the  yield  of  pearls  was  worth  over 
two  million  dollars  a  year,  and  the  Sheik  levied  a 
substantial  tribute  on  this,  piracy  was  a  sore  point 
with  him.  He  could  not  arm  himself  against 
pirates.  Turkey  had  no  navy.  It  fell  to  the  lot 


128      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

of  England,  therefore,  to  police  these  waters  as 
she  has  taken  care  of  nearly  all  the  otherwise  un- 
policed  waters  of  the  earth.  It  followed,  nat- 
urally, that  the  Sheik  of  Kuweit  became  a 
staunch  ally  of  England. 

Then  David,  doing  his  best  to  remember  things 
his  father  had  told  him,  and  to  which  he  wished, 
now,  he  had  paid  more  attention,  tried  to  recall  the 
relation  of  the  oil  question  to  the  Sheik  of  Mu- 
hammerah. 

In  1901  an  Englishman  without  much  money, 
but  with  an  unlimited  faith  in  his  own  powers,  se- 
cured a  concession  from  the  Shah  of  Persia  for 
working  petroleum,  in  all  its  forms,  in  southern 
Persia.  He  was  successful  in  interesting  British 
capitalists  in  his  project  and  he  spent  large  sums 
in  prospecting.  Day  in,  day  out,  for  seven  long 
years,  he  wandered  and  journeyed  into  every  hole 
and  corner  of  southern  Persia,  his  search  only 
made  possible  by  that  ready  support  which  Eng- 
lish capital  gives  to  the  exploration  of  the  ends 
of  the  earth.  At  last  he  tapped  an  immense  and 
practically  inexhaustible  oil-field  in  Arabistan, 
within  the  -territories  over  which  the  Sheik  of 
Muhammerah  exercises  control. 

In  the  way  of  expense,  Persia  had  done  nothing, 


129 

but,  no  sooner  were  the  oil-fields  found,  than  both 
the  Shah  and  the  Sheik  of  Muhammerah  found 
themselves  in  receipt  of  a  fat  sum  of  royalty  an- 
nually. In  four  years,  between  1908  and  1912, 
the  oil-fields  were  developed  with  a  swiftness 
that  seemed  like  magic,  and  by  1912  all  the  neces- 
sary refineries  were  built,  a  double  pipe  line  150 
miles  long  was  laid  down  to  bring  the  product 
down  to  the  coast,  and  the  little  desert  island  of 
Abadan,  in  the  estuary  of  the  Shatt-el-Arab,  de- 
veloped as  though  by  miracle  into  an  oil-shipping 
port  of  good  size. 

Early  in  1914,  the  British  Admiralty,  disturbed 
by  the  evidences  of  German  aggression  in  the 
Orient,  bought  a  controlling  interest  in  the  Anglo- 
Persian  Oil  company,  as  many  of  the  newer  and 
heavier  battleships  of  the  navy  burned  oil,  rather 
than  coal,  and  Abadan  became  an  important  naval 
fuel-base.  It  was  small  wonder  that  the  Sheik  of 
Muhammerah  was  also  an  ally  of  England. 

If  he  could  get  into  their  territories,  therefore, 
David  thought,  especially  if  he  could  make  his 
way  down  to  the  teritory  of  the  Sheik  of  Kuweit, 
he  could  thence  reach  Abadan  and  be  safe.  The 
boy  realized  that  his  father  did  not  know,  when 
he  advised  him  to  go  to  Basra,  that  the  Turkish 


130     WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

garrison  there  was  being  reenforced  by  troops 
from  Bagdad.  It  remained  to  be  seen  whether 
it  would  be  wise  for  him  to  try  to  reach  Basra. 
Abadan  or  Tao,  however,  seemed  certainly  in 
British  hands  and  the  boy  knew  that  once  England 
grips  a  seaport,  she  rarely  lets  go. 

But,  if  he  could  not  go  down  by  river,  how 
should  he  go? 

The  dark  tent  and  the  silent  Arabs  were  not 
comforting.  David  felt  as  though  the  darkness 
were  encompassing  his  future  and  the  silence  his 
fate. 

Then  the  Sheik  spoke. 

1  'Last  season,"  he  said,  "there  came  to  our 
tents  a  Franji  Pasha  who  wished  to  put  a  halter 
on  the  two  rivers.  He  was  a  powerful  Pasha. 
The  Turks  had  a  party  of  soldiers  to  do  him  honor, 
and  his  gifts  were  worthy  the  acceptance  of  a 
Sheik." 

By  which  David  judged  that  an  Englishman  of 
some  importance  had  been  engaged  in  diplomatic 
work  along  the  upper  Euphrates. 

"In  what  way  would  he  bridle  the  river,  0 
Sheik?' 'asked  David. 

"As  did  the  ancients,"  the  Arab  replied; 
"when  the  floods  came  down  he  desired  -to  lead 


CAUGHT  IN  A  TURKISH  TRAP     131 

them  into  great  lakes,  from  which  small  streams 
should  lead  the  water  to  the  fields  when  the  sum- 
mer sun  shines  hotly." 

"Is  the  Franji  Pasha  there  this  season?"  asked 
the  boy. 

"That  we  shall  soon  know,"  answered  the 
Sheik. 

He  raised  his  voice. 

"The  sons  of  Harran  will  ride  to-morrow,"  he 
said. 

This  was  a  characteristic  Arab  speech.  The 
Sheik  of  a  tribe  is  only  a  chief  by  dignity.  Only 
in  tribal  wars  does  the  authority  of  the  chief 
actually  become  that  of  a  commander,  otherwise, 
it  is  rather  a  position  of  dignity  and  precedence. 
Yet  the  wish  of  a  Sheik  is  usually  regarded  and  the 
boy  knew  that  the  information  would  be  obtained. 

"My  father  would  wish  that  the  Sheik  of  the 
tribe  of  Harran  should  have  a  talisman  from  the 
cities  of  the  Ancient  Past,"  interjected  David 
after  a  pause.  "It  is  not  well  that  a  Turkish 
usurper  should  possess  that  which  has  been 
found  in  the  land  of  the  Arabs." 

For  a  youngster,  this  was  a  tactful  speech. 
The  Sheik  could  not,  with  dignity,  accept  a  gift 
save  from  an  equal,  and  a  lad  of  fourteen  years, 


132      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

even  though  the  son  of  a  Franji  Pasha,  could  not 
be  his  equal.  So,  by  placing  the  gift  as  though  it 
came  from  his  father,  David  avoided  this  pitfall. 
Moreover,  a  Sheik  could  not  accept  "baksheesh" 
or  alms.  Nor  could  he  accept  pay  for  hospitality. 
A  talisman,  however,  was  a  permissible  gift. 
Furthermore,  by  declaring  it  to  be  something 
which  ought  not  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the 
Turks,  he  was  pleasing  the  pride  of  the  Arabs. 

A  slight  murmur  ran  round  the  silence  of  the 
tent.  To  the  Bedouin,  a  gift  to  the  Sheik  of  a 
tribe  is  a  gift  to  every  man  in  the  tribe.  David 
had  no  need  to  ask  whether  the  Arabs  would  go. 
Such  things  arrange  themselves.  Soon  after  sun- 
rise, he  knew,  the  horsemen  would  be  on  their 
way. 

The  Sheik  replied  with  a  stately  expression  of 
thanks  and  another  small  bundle  of  brushwood 
was  thrown  on  the  embers  of  the  fire.  The  tiny 
gem  was  shown  and  passed  around.  Then,  with- 
out a  word  or  sign,  the  crowd  melted  away.  An- 
other skin  was  spread  on  the  bags  of  grain  which 
occupied  the  rear  of  the  tent,  and,  without  the 
formality  of  undressing,  in  a  few  minutes  the 
Sheik,  his  son,  and  David  were  fast  asleep. 

The  boy  was  awakened  by  the  devotions  of  the 


CAUGHT  IN  A  TURKISH  TRAP     133 

Sheik.  As  a  youngster  he  had  known  all  the 
Arabic  prayers  and  wondered  whether  he  ought  to 
recite  them  now.  The  little  son  of  the  Sheik  was 
also  on  his  praying  carpet,  following  his  father, 
word  for  word. 

David  waited  until  they  had  finished  and  then 
rolled  up  his  bed  on  the  top  of  the  sack-mouths, 
and  turning,  repeated  quietly  some  of  the  opening 
verses  of  the  Koran. 

Answering  the  expression  of  surprise  in  the 
Sheik's  eyes,  David  explained, 

"My  father  always  taught  me  that  there  is 
Truth  in  all  religions,  and  to  do  honor  tp  all 
teachers  of  all  faiths." 

The  Sheik's  eyes  lighted. 

"  'Who  teaches  a  wise  thing,  sows  a  good 
seed,'  "  he  answered. 

David  spent  the  morning  with  the  young  son  of 
the  Sheik,  the  smaller  boy  being  especially  proud 
of  a  huge  dog  which  had  been  given  him  for  a  pet 
when  quite  a  puppy.  Lake  most  Arab  dogs  he 
was  fierce,  fully  carrying  out  the  words  of  the  old 
proverb  which  says,  "Better  eat  clay  than  risk  a 
battle  with  the  dogs  of  the  Arab ! ' '  Yet,  since  the 
dog  was  playful  and  affectionate,  David  bent 
down  to  pat  him  on  the  back. 


134     WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

All  cried  out  in  dismay. 

"  'Though  the  dog's  wool  is  soft,  it  is  un- 
clean!' "  he  cried,  and  David,  for  the  first  time, 
understood  why  it  is  that  while  the  Arab  may 
treasure  his  dog,  he  never  touches  it,  nor  does  an 
Arab  dog  fawn  upon  his  master. 

"The  only  dog,"  explained  Ali,  repeating  an 
old  Arab  tradition,  "  which  will  be  admitted  to 
Paradise  is  the  dog  which  watched  over  the  cave 
of  the  Seven  Sleepers. ' ' 

This  was  new  to  David. 

"Tell  me,  Ali,"  he  said,  "what  other  animals 
are  to  be  admitted  I ' ' 

The  younger  lad  was  proud  of  the  opportunity 
of  showing  off  his  knowledge  to  an  older  one,  the 
son,  too,  of  a  Franji  Pasha,  and  he  rattled  along 
eagerly. 

"Besides  the  bees,"  said  Ali,  "there  are  ten 
animals  which  will  be  admitted  to  Paradise. 
There  is  the  ram  which  was  sacrificed  by  Abra- 
ham, -the  lamb  of  Ishmael,  the  cow  which  Moses 
gave  to  the  Israelites,  the  whale  which  swallowed 
Jonah,  the  ant  which  Solomon  showed  as  an  ex- 
ample of  industry,  the  hoopoe  which  was  in  the 
Temple  at  Jerusalem,  the  horse  which  carried 
Elijah  to  heaven  and  which  El  Khadr  (St. 


CAUGHT  IN  A  TURKISH  TRAP     135 

George)  used  in  his  fight  with  the  dragon,  the  dog 
which  watched  at  the  entrance  of  the  cave  of  the 
Seven  Sleepers,  the  ass  on  which  Jesus  rode  into 
Jerusalem  on  the  day  when  the  people  greeted 
Him  with  palm  branches  and  the  camel  which 
carried  Mohammed  in  the  departure  from  Mecca. ' ' 

"And  no  other  animal  will  ever  get  in  I" 
queried  David,  who  was  really  interested,  and  sur- 
prised at  the  knowledge  of  his  young  friend. 

"No,"  answered  Ali,  "not  unless  Allah  sends 
it  to  help  one  of  his  prophets.  What  animals  are 
there  in  the  Christian  heaven  f ' ' 

And  David,  trying  to  remember,  was  bound  to 
confess  that  he  did  not  know. 

The  morning  passed  quickly,  and  shortly  after 
noon  the  horsemen  returned.  They  reported  that 
the  "Franji  Pasha  who  sought  to  bridle  the  river" 
was  still  there,  but  was  making  plans  to  leave  be- 
cause of  the  news  of  the  outbreak  of  war.  The 
Arabs  had  spoken  to  him  about  David,  and  the 
English  engineer,  as  the  boy  recognized  him  to 
be  from  the  descriptions,  had  given  them  a 
message  that  instead  of  riding  south,  David 
should  mount  horse  with  the  utmost  dispatch  and 
ride  north  to  his  camp,  as  he  would  not  leave  until 
the  following  day. 


136      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

One  of  the  Arabs  offered  to  accompany  the  lad, 
so  David  hurried  to  where  his  horse  was  picketed 
and  set  out  with  his  guide  for  the  upper  stretch 
of  the  Euphrates,  near  Hit,  where  the  engineer's 
camp  was  located. 

They  rode  steadily  to  the  northward  for  an 
hour,  and  then  a  cloud  of  dust  on  the  horizon 
caused  the  Arab  to  rein  his  horse  back  suddenly 
on  his  haunches.  David  followed  suit. 

"When  the  sun  was  high  in  the  heavens,"  the 
Arab  said,  "I  came  down  over  this  way,  where  we 
may  still  see  in  the  sand  the  tracks  of  the  feet  of 
my  horses  and  the  horses  of  my  companions. 
Who  can  these  be?" 

The  two  riders  whirled  their  horses  eastward 
and  rode  toward  the  direction  of  the  river  Tigris, 
but  the  cloud  of  dust  grew  thicker  and  nearer. 

"We  -seem  to  be  in  a  trap!"  declared  David. 
"Maybe  we  had  better  go  back  to  the  Sheik." 

But  the  Arab  was  reluctant  to  do  this.  He  had 
been  entrusted  with  the  task  of  guiding  the 
Sheik's  guest.  Besides,  he  knew  that  the  Turks 
were  seeking  to  incense  the  Muntafik  Arabs  to  a 
Holy  War,  and  since  his  own  tribe  was  known  to 
be  hostile  to  the  Muntafik,  the  latter  would  seize 
upon  the  excuse  of  the  presence  of  a  Franji  boy 


UNDER  A  SKY  LIKE  MOLTEN  BRASS,  AND  THE  SAND  HOT  UNDER-FOOT. 


Conrtesy  of"  Illustrated  London  News." 

THE  COOLNESS  AND  SHADE  OF  AN   OASIS  MAKE  "SHADOW"  A  WORD 
OF  BLESSING  IN  THE  ORIENT. 


CAUGHT  IN  A  TURKISH  TRAP     137 

who  was  already  a  fugitive  to  wreak  their 
vengeance  on  the  tribe. 

So  he  whirled  his  horse  to  the  westward  and 
the  two  rode  at  topmost  speed  till  they  came  again 
to  the  bank  of  .the  Euphrates  and  then  turned 
northward  to  see  if  there  would  be  a  space  be- 
tween the  cloud  of  dust  and  the  river. 

But,  as  they  rode,  there  rose  upon  their  ears 
the  long,  low  hum  of  a  host.  Nothing  was  visible, 
not  even  the  cloud  of  dust,  for  at  that  time  they 
were  riding  just  in  the  shelter  of  the  low  bank, 
which,  outside  the  line  of  date  palms,  marks  the 
high  water  of  the  river  in  the  time  of  the  spring 
floods. 

At  a  check  on  the  bridle,  the  Arab's  horse  came 
to  a  sudden  halt,  and  listening  intently,  the  Bed- 
ouin said, 

"It  is  the  noise  of  a  host." 

"Turks?"  queried  David  succinctly. 

"How  can  I  tell  when  I  have  not  seen  them?" 
protested  the  Arab,  "and  if  I  ride  to  the  bank, 
they  may  see  me  and  come  after  me  with  twenty 
men. ' ' 

"Creep  up  on  the  ground  and  see,"  suggested 
the  boy. 

"Allah,   the   All- wise,"   replied   the   Bedouin, 


138      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

proudly,  "gave  the  Sons  of  the  Desert  feet  on 
which  to  walk  and  only  the  lower  creatures  have 
bellies  on  which  to  crawl. ' ' 

David's  curiosity,  however,  was  greater  than 
any  such  scruple  and,  handing  the  bridle  of  his 
horse  to  the  Arab,  he  crawled  along  the  ground 
until  he  came  to  the  edge  of  the  bank.  Then, 
carefully,  he  put  his  head  above  the  edge  and 
looked. 

This  was  no  band  of  raiding  Arabs,  no  move- 
ment of  a  Bedouin  encampment.  The  whole  plain 
was  studded  with  groups  and  companies  of  men 
in  military  formation.  In  the  distance  wagons 
could  be  seen,  and  a  small  black  object  which  sped 
across  the  desert  to  David 's  right  he  assumed  to 
be  a  motor-car.  Although  too  far  away  to  dis- 
tinguish clearly  and  lacking  a  field  glass,  still 
David  was  convinced  that  he  could  distinguish 
cavalry,  infantry,  and  artillery  units. 

It  was  the  Turkish  Army  from  Bagdad,  moving 
south  to  reenforce  the  garrison  at  Basra. 

For  a  moment  David  was  staggered.  As  he 
had  feared,  they  were  in  a  trap.  Behind  them 
was  the  Turkish  garrison  at  Amara,  which  un- 
doubtedly would  have  thrown  out  flanking  parties 
on  either  side  to  hold  the  valley  of  the  Two 


139 

Elvers  from  the  Persian  mountains  to  the  edge  of 
the  desert  plateau;  on  either  side  of  them  was  a 
river,  the  Euphrates  to  the  left  and  the  Tigris  to 
the  right;  and  in  front  was  the  Turkish  Army. 
What  was  the  way  out? 

He  crept  back  down  the  bank  and  walked 
thoughtfully  to  where  the  Arab  was  holding  both 
horses. 

"We're  in  a  tight  fix,"  he  announced,  then, 
translating  the  phrase,  told  his  comrade  just  what 
he  had  seen. 

The  Arab  turned  his  eyes  across  the  river. 

"If  we  were  upon  the  other  side,"  he  said,  "we 
might  go  north  without  being  seen." 

"Let  us  go  on  the  other  side,  then,"  suggested 
David  hopefully. 

"There  is  but  the  bridge  of  boats  below  Hillah 
and  the  dam  at  Museyia,"  the  Arab  answered, 
"and  it  is  sure  that  there  will  be  soldiers  ai  both 
places." 

"We  might  swim  across!"  suggested  the 
American  boy. 

The  Arab  looked  at  his  companion  with  sur- 
prise. 

1 1  Are  you  one  of  those  to  whom  Allah  has  given 
the  fins  of  a  fish?"  he  said. 


1 40      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

' '  I  have  no  fins,  but  I  can  swim, ' '  said  David. 

"I  have  heard  of  such  things,"  the  Arab  re- 
plied, not  wholly  convinced. 

"Have  you  never  seen  any  one  swim?"  queried 
the  lad,  in  surprise.  Then,  remembering,  he  cor- 
rected himself,  "No,  I  don't  suppose  you  would. 
The  Harran  are  a  desert  tribe." 

He  went  to  the  edge  of  the  river  and  looked 
across. 

1 '  There 's  quite  a  bit  of  a  current, ' '  he  said,  aloud 
to  himself,  "but  if  I  started  out  here,  even  without 
swimming  very  hard,  the  current  would  take  me  to 
the  other  side  a  couple  of  hundred  yards  down. ' ' 

"But  I  have  not  the  fins  of  a  fish,"  the  Arab 
protested. 

"Tell  me,"  returned  the  lad,  "in  which  direc- 
tion is  the  camp?  I  can  swim  across.  Then  you 
can  return  to  the  Sheik  and  tell  him  that  you  have 
seen  me  on  my  way. ' ' 

The  Arab  shook  his  head. 

"It  is  for  me  to  take  you  'to  the  Franji  camp," 
he  said,  and  David  knew  that  with  characteristic 
Arab  persistence,  his  companion  would  never  turn 
back  until  he  had  either  got  through  or  been  killed 
in  trying. 

"It  will  eat  time  to  take  you  over  ae  well,"  da- 


CAUGHT  IN  A  TURKISH  TRAP     141 

clared  the  boy.  "And  we  haven't  much  time  to 
waste,  if  the  camp  is  still  fifteen  miles  away ! ' ' 

But  the  Bedouin  remained  insistent. 

So  David  stripped  and  tied  his  clothes  and  shot- 
gun on  the  saddle.  Then,  leading  his  horse  by  the 
bridle,  he  started  to  wade  through  the  river.  The 
Arab  horse,  unaccustomed  to  the  water  and  not 
liking  it,  jerked  back,  but,  well-trained,  on  feeling 
the  hand  on  his  bridle  and  seeing  his  master  before 
him,  advanced  gingerly  foot  by  foot  until  the 
stream  took  him  off  his  feet.  Then  David,  who 
had  kept  on  the  upper  side  of  the  stream  from  the 
horse,  struck  out  boldly.  The  river  was  about  two 
hundred  yards  in  width  at  this  point,  but  the  deep 
water  was  not  more  than  fifty  or  sixty  yards  at 
most  and  the  boy  managed  without  difficulty, 
though,  as  he  had  expected,  the  current  took  him 
downstream  to  the  next  bend.  He  tied  the  horse 
to  a  camel-thorn  and  walked  up  the  river  to  a  point 
higher  than  where  he  had  crossed,  to  allow  for  the 
set  of  the  current,  then  swam  back. 

By  this  time  David  was  tired.  Although  he 
knew  how  to  swim,  he  was  in  no  sense  a  good 
swimmer.  He  had  learned  nothing  but  the  breast 
stroke  and  had  none  of  the  long,  even  glide  which 
distinguishes  the  expert  swimmer.  When  he  got 


142      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

back  to  the  eastern  shore  of  the  river,  after  having 
crossed  it  twice,  he  was  blowing  like  a  grampus. 

"You  have  spoken  truth,"  commented  the  Bed- 
ouin, ''when  you  admitted  that  Allah  had  not 
given  you  the  fins  of  a  fish.  Yet  he  hath  given 
you  skill  to  beat  the  water  like  the  oars  of  a  boat, 
and  I  will  beat  the  water  likewise,  and  go  over 
also." 

"No,"  said  the  boy,  "that,  0  Hassan,  you  can- 
not do.  Swimming  is  an  art  not  to  be  arrived  at 
without  some  practice.  But  tie  your  rifle  on  the 
saddle,  even  as  I  did,  and  walk  into  the  water  be- 
side your  horse,  keeping  your  hand  on  the  saddle. 
Do  not  try  to  hold  yourself  high  out  of  water,  or 
you  will  drag  the  horse  down.  Let  yourself  sink 
as  deep  as  possible,  so  that  only  your  nose  is  out 
of  the  water.  Breathe  through  your  nostrils.  So 
shall  you  put  no  weight  on  the  horse,  and  the 
slight  lift  you  give  on  the  saddle  will  keep  your 
head  above  water.  As  for  advancing  through  the 
stream,  it  is  not  wide,  and  the  little  forward  swim- 
ming I  can  do  will  encourage  the  horse  to  do  like- 
wise and  so  we  shall  get  over." 

This  crossing,  however,  was  much  more  difficult 
than  the  first.  As  soon  as  the  Arab  got  beyond 


CAUGHT  IN  A  TURKISH  TRAP     143 

his  depth,  he  grew  frightened,  and  in  a  half -panic 
tried  to  lift  himself  half  out  of  the  water  by  the 
saddle.  The  weight  dragged  the  horse  down,  and 
the  fright  of  the  rider  communicated  itself  to  the 
horse. 

David,  puffing  hard  and  unused  to  the  exertion, 
found  that  the  rhythm  of  his  legs  and  arms  was 
not  uniform.  He  strove  his  hardest,  but  all  his 
efforts  were  in  vain  to  reach  the  point  where  he 
had  landed  before,  and  though  he  tried  until  his 
muscles  cracked,  the  current  swept  him  by.  The 
panic  which  was  in  the  Arab  and  in  the  horse  com- 
municated itself  to  him  and  he  began  to  thresh 
out  wildly,  as  he  saw  the  bank  receding.  He 
looked  down.  The  next  bend  was  almost  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  away. 

Could  he  keep  afloat  so  long? 

Black  circles  danced  before  his  eyes,  but  he  kept 
his  muscles  to  their  task  and  floundered  on. 

Then,  suddenly,  his  feet  touched  ground.  The 
river,  always  full  of  shoals  and  bars,  was  shallow 
here.  He  stood  upright  to  get  his  breath.  The 
Arab  did  likewise.  A  wave  of  confidence  swept 
back  over  the  boy. 

"Come  on,"  he  cried,  "we're  almost  there!" 


144      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

and  putting  all  his  force  into  the  task,  he  towed  the 
horse  and  rider  over  the  narrow  intervening  chan- 
nel to  the  shoal  beyond. 

He  could  afford  to  scorn  the  Turkish  Army  now. 
The  Euphrates  was  crossed,  and  he  was  on  the 
other  side. 


CHAPTEE  V 

THE  CHASE  ON  THE  TIGRIS 

"So  you're  Professor  Surch's  son,  eh?"  said  a 
tall  and  rugged  man,  shaking  David 's  hand  heart- 
ily. "I'm  glad  to  have  the  chance  of  helping  you. 
Didn't  have  any  trouble  getting  here,  did  you? 
You're  late." 

"Why,  yes,  sir,"  the  boy  answered,  "we  did 
have  some  trouble, ' '  and  he  described  his  crossing 
of  the  Euphrates. 

The  big  Englishman  laughed  heartily,  and 
turned  to  the  Arab. 

"By  the  graven  seal  of  Solomon!"  he  said, 
using  a  common  Arabic  adjuration,  "but  you  are 
worthy  of  your  tribe,  0  Son  of  the  Sons  of  Har- 
ran,  for  it  takes  courage  to  meet  a  danger  all  un- 
known. You  have  done  a  worthier  deed  in  facing 
an  angry  river  than  facing  an  angry  foe. ' ' 

And  David,  who  had  plucked  out  another  of  the 
small  gems  from  the  tablet  in  his  game  bag,  gave 
it  to  the  Arab,  saying, 

"Take  this  gem  as  a  remembrance  of  how 

145 


146      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

horse  and  rider  faced  the  current  to  guide  a 
friend." 

The  Arab  took  the  gift  and  salaamed  solemnly. 

"By  the  Verse  of  the  Throne,  and  the  Chapter 
of  Sincerity,  and  the  Two  Preventives,"  he 
assured  them  solemnly,  "I  have  done  only  that 
which  any  Son  of  the  Desert  will  do  to  one  who 
has  come  to  his  tent  and  eaten  bread  and  salt. 
Allah  forbid  that  a  true  Bedouin  or  the  horse  of  a 
Bedouin  should  be  slow  upon  the  path  of  right 
doing. ' ' 

David  and  the  English  engineer  walked  with 
the  Arab  to  where  his  horse  was  standing. 

"But  how  will  you  cross  the  river  again?" 
asked  the  boy. 

"There  are  tents  of  Bedouins  not  far  away," 
the  Arab  answered,  "and  when  the  sun  rises  to- 
morrow— by  the  light  of  whom  Allah  send  you 
prosperity  and  peace — I  will  ride  back.  I  can 
cross  the  river  at  Hillah.  None  will  suspect  my 
crossing,  for  my  brethren  are  near. ' ' 

And  with  a  salutation  of  dignified  farewell,  the 
Arab  disappeared  into  the  gathering  dusk  of  the 
evening. 

After  a  substantial  supper  of  a  European  char- 
acter— for  the  engineer  had  many  servants  and 


THE  CHASE  ON  THE  TIGRIS     147 

had  evidently  been  encamped  for  several  months 
at  the  place — the  conversation  naturally  turned  to 
the  question  of  the  war. 

"It's  a  confounded  nuisance,"  the  engineer  de- 
clared, "because  I  was  just  getting  my  work  here 
nicely  started  and  the  Arabs  had  full  confidence 
in  me.  Now  the  Germans  are  going  to  spoil  it 
all." 

"But  I  don't  see,  sir,"  said  the  boy,  "what 
this  part  of  the  world  has  got  to  do  with  Germany 
at  all?  I  asked  Father  about  that,  but  he  didn't 
seem  to  know,  either.  Father  hated  politics,  that 
is  unless  it  was  politics  a  couple  of  thousand  years 
old." 

The  Englishman  smiled  as  he  leaned  back  and 
lit  a  cigar. 

"It's  easy  enough  io  see  where  Germany's  in- 
terests are  involved,"  he  answered.  "To  begin 
with,  David,  Germany  was  the  latest  of  all  em- 
pires to  be  organized.  When  she  defeated 
France  in  1871  and  started  on  a  world  conquest 
idea,  all  the  habitable  parts  of  the  globe  were 
already  colonized.  As  Germ-any  became  richer, 
she  became  more  populous.  Her  densely  popu- 
lated sections  made  Germany  greedy  for  colonies 
to  people;  her  commercial  success  made  her 


148      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

greedy  for  colonies  to  exploit ;  and  her  militaristic 
system  made  her  greedy  for  colonies  to  conquer 
and  to  rule.  Since  all  the  known  lands  in  the 
world  which  were  worth  colonizing  were  already 
colonized,  nothing  was  left  for  Germany  but  to 
develop  a  larger  army  than  any  other  power  in 
order  to  gain  territory  by  conquest.  That's 
clear. ' ' 

"Why  couldn't  Germany  be  content  with  what 
she'd  got?"  queried  David. 

' '  Greed, ' '  came  the  answer, '  *  and  forty  years  of 
success  had  made  her  arrogant.  She  thought  she 
could  conquer  all  the  world.  Even  more  than 
that,  she  was  jealous  of  England,  her  commercial 
rival.  England,  as  a  naval  empire,  depends  on 
the  loyalty  and  unity  of  her  colonies  across  the 
seas.  India  is  not  only  a  source  of  income,  but 
it  would  be  a  .terrible  blow  to  England's  pride  if 
an  attack  could  be  made  on  India.  Therefore,  for 
many  years,  Germany  has  been  trying  to  under- 
mine England's  interests  in  the  East." 

"I  remember,"  put  in  David,  "Father  told  me 
that  was  why  the  Kaiser  made  an  alliance  with 
the  Sultan  of  Turkey,  and  protected  him  when- 
ever he  undertook  the  massacres  of  Christians." 

"Exactly,"  the   engineer  answered,   "but  the 


THE  CHASE  ON  THE  TIGRIS     149 

Kaiser  wanted  practical  gains  at  once.  In  return 
for  this  alliance,  Germans  were  granted  many 
commercial  concessions  in  Turkey.  One  of  these 
was  the  building  of  a  railway  to  connect  Con- 
stantinople with  Bagdad.  There  was  already  a 
railway  from  Berlin  to  Constantinople,  so  the  new 
line  was  known  as  the  Berlin  to  Bagdad  railway." 

The  engineer  paused  significantly. 

"It  is  not  finished  yet!"  he  added.  Then  he 
continued, 

"At  the  same  time,  as  a  result  of  this  alliance, 
military  and  naval  schools  with  German  instruct- 
ors were  established  in  Constantinople.  The 
Turkish  artillery  was  of  German  and  Austrian 
manufacture,  and  the  artillery  chiefs  were  Ger- 
man. The  equipment  of  the  infantry  was  Ger- 
man and  there  were  German  drillmasters.  At  the 
present  moment,  David,  the  Turkish  Army  is  as 
thoroughly  a  part  of  the  German  Army  as  the 
Indian  Army  is  of  the  British. 

"Soon  after  the  war  began,"  the  engineer  went 
on,  "the  Turks,  acting  under  instructions  from 
Germany,  attacked  two  Eussian  ports.  The 
Allies  promptly  demanded  an  immediate  with- 
drawal of  the  ships,  an  apology,  and  an  indemnity. 
Turkey  evaded  the  point.  The  Allies  then  in- 


150 

sisted  that  all  German  naval  and  military  in- 
structors in  the  Turkish  service  must  leave  Con- 
stantinople. This  would  leave  the  Turkish 
Army  leaderless.  Turkey  could  not  accept  with- 
out offending  Germany,  could  not  refuse  without 
defying  the  Allies.  It  meant  war,  on  one  side  or 
the  other,  and  Turkey  could  do  nothing  else  but 
declare  herself  on  the  side  of  Germany. ' ' 

"When  did  all  this  happen,  sir?"  asked  David. 

1  i  Only  a  few  days  ago, ' '  the  engineer  answered, 
"on  November  1st.  Now,  David,  since  you  are  in 
the  middle  of  this  war  and  not  likely  to  be  able  to 
escape  from  the  theater  of  operations  unless  the 
war  comes  to  an  end  quickly — which  seems  un- 
likely now  that  Germany  has  been  stopped  in 
France,  and  Austria  has  been  invaded  by  Eussia — 
I  think  perhaps  I  ought  to  explain  to  you  what 
Turkey  is  trying  to  do. 

"The  German-Turk  plan  of  campaign,  as  I  see 
it,  is  threefold.  First  of  all,  there  is  a  strong 
movement  planned  against  the  Eussians  in  the 
Caucasus,  with  the  intention  of  securing  the  Baku 
oil-fields.  Second,  there  is  to  be  an  expedition 
against  Egypt  in  the  hope  of  capturing  the  Suez 
Canal  and  thus  preventing  the  shipment  of  troops 
and  supplies  from  India  and  Australia  to  the 


THE  CHASE  ON  THE  TIGRIS     151 

western  theaters  of  war.  The  third  campaign, 
in  which  we  are  personally  more  directly  inter- 
ested, will  start  south  from  Bagdad  to  seize  the 
works  and  pipe-line  of  the  Anglo-Persian  Oil 
Company  at  Abadan.  That,  if  successful,  would 
menace  the  west  coast  of  India  and  seriously 
cripple  England's  naval  movements  in  the  East." 

"That  one  has  begun  already,"  remarked 
David;  " there  must  have  been  just  thousands  of 
men  in  that  army  we  saw  this  afternoon.  But  do 
you  think,  sir,  that  Germany  can  make  it  go  T " 

"They  have  announced  a  Holy  War,"  the  Eng- 
lishman commented  gravely. 

"Father  didn't  seem  to  think  that  would  amount 
to  much,"  the  boy  answered,  recalling  the  archae- 
ologist's conversation. 

The  engineer  looked  interested. 

"I  should  greatly  like  to  hear  what  he  said, 
if  you  can  remember,"  he  urged.  "Professor 
Surch  has  lived  a  great  many  years  in  this  coun- 
try, he  is  a  close  student  of  the  Arabs  and  of  Islam 
and  his  opinion  would  be  valuable." 

So  David  searched  his  memory  and  repeated  all 
that  he  could  remember  concerning  the  difference 
between  the  Shiahs  and  the  Sunis,  and  repeated 
the  professor's  disbelief  that  Mohammedans  all 


152      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

over  the  world  would  rise  in  fanatic  revolt  on  so 
flimsy  a  pretext  as  the  instigation  of  an  f  l  infidel ' ' 
Kaiser. 

The  engineer  nodded  his  head  in  satisfaction 
at  this  pronouncement. 

"That's  just  about  what  I  think,"  he  agreed, 
and  added,  "There  appears  to  me  to  be  always  one 
curious  weakness  in  Germans.  The  Teutonic 
mind  doesn't  seem  able  to  understand  any  point  of 
view  but  its  own.  Germans  try  to  rule,  not  to 
lead,  and  seem  to  think  that  they  can  force  other 
peoples  to  think  as  they  do.  After  all,  common 
sense  ought  to  teach  them  that  you  can't  change 
the  century-old  ideas  of  the  East  in  a  year  or  two. 

"True,  a  Holy  War  is  a  very  ugly  business,  and 
if  ever  the  whole  Mohammedan  world  thought  the 
faith  was  in  danger,  no  single  European  nation 
could  put  the  revolt  down.  But  the  Mussulman  is 
not  a  fool.  Far  from  it!  He  is  a  shrewd  and 
careful  thinker.  If  Germany  is  counting  on  a 
Jehad  for  her  success,  I  agree  with  Professor 
Surch  that  she  is  going  to  be  badly  mistaken,  and 
will  find  it  out  mighty  soon. " 

"I  had  a  little  experience  with  Germans,  right 
here  in  the  Garden  of  Eden,"  he  continued,  lean- 
ing back  in  his  chair.  "You  know  this  place  here 


THE  CHASE  ON  THE  TIGRIS     153 

is  the  original  Garden  of  Eden,  don't  you?"  he 
queried. 

"No,  sir,"  said  David,  "I  didn't.  I  thought  it 
was  farther  down  the  river." 

"It  is  here,"  the  engineer  asserted,  "or  at  least, 
I  believe  it  is.1  There's  not  the  slightest  doubt 
that  the  Garden  of  Eden  was  at  some  point  along 
the  Tigris  and  Euphrates  rivers.  Every  tradi- 
tion and  every  piece  of  evidence  shows  this.  To 
my  mind,  it  is  just  as  sure  that  any  fertile  and 
luxuriant  stretch  in  this  part  of  the  world  must 
have  had  plenty  of  water,  or,  as  we  engineers 
would  put  it,  it  must  have  been  a  free-flow  irri- 
gation, as  contrasted  with  irrigation  by  machinery 
or  human  labor. 

"When  human  beings  first  appeared  on  the 
earth,  and  for  a  long  time  afterwards,  they  must 
have  spent  much  of  their  energies  in  defense 
against  wild  animals.  To  those  whose  dwelling- 
places  were  near  forests  and  jungles  the  struggle 
must  have  been  fierce  and  left  time  for  little  else. 
But  in  the  oases,  and  fertile  strips  of  country  sur- 
rounded by  deserts,  once  man  began  to  get  the 
upper  hand,  he  was  able  to  exterminate  the 

i  The  author  here  follows  the  most  modern  and  scientific  au- 
thority, that  of  Sir  W.  Willcocks,  for  thirty-one  years  an  irriga- 
tion engineer  in  Egypt  and  Mesopotamia. 


154     WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

dangers  from  wild  beasts,  as  they  could  not  be  re- 
cruited from  the  deserts  around. 

"Everything,  science  and  tradition  alike,  says 
that  the  early  Semites,  the  ancestors  of  the  Chil- 
dren of  Israel,  moved  down  from  the  northern  hills 
to  the  Euphrates  Valley.  Now  the  first  great 
oasis  they  met,  their  first  home,  was  this  country 
here,  between  Anah  and  Hit.  Even  yet,  David,  in 
this  region,  garden  succeeds  garden,  orchards  and 
date-palm  groves  lie  between  fields  of  corn  and 
cotton,  for  the  Euphrates  falls  over  a  succession 
of  shallow  cataracts,  the  country  sloping  down- 
wards. One  can  see,  to-day,  a  score  of  places 
where  the  water  formerly  ran  along  numberless 
channels  and  irrigated  gardens  down  stream  and 
out  of  reach  of  the  floods.  Here  grew  naturally 
the  date-palm  and  the  wild  vine,  which  the  Arabs 
regard  as  having  been  the  Tree  of  Life  and  the 
Tree  of  the  Knowledge  of  Good  and  Evil. 

"Probably  you  haven't  studied  the  geography 
of  the  early  account  of  the  Garden  of  Eden,  David, 
but,  having  lived  here,  you  know  the  geography 
of  this  section.  The  old  account  in  Genesis  said 
that  a  river  watered  the  garden  and  from  thence 
it  parted  into  four  branches.  One  of  these  was 
called  the  Pison ;  it  is  now  the  marshland  that  you 


THE  CHASE  ON  THE  TIGRIS     155 

circled  when  coming  northwards  here  this  after- 
noon. The  second,  the  Gihon,  is  the  modern 
Hindia.  The  third  was  Hiddekel,  which  is  a  chan- 
nel flowing  from  the  Euphrates  into  the  Tigris 
and  which  formerly  was  one  of  the  upper  tribu- 
taries of  the  Tigris.  The  fourth  was  the  river 
Euphrates  itself.  The  more  you  live  in  this 
country,  David,  the  more  you  will  find  the  old 
Bible  stories  have  a  real  historical  value.  But 
they  must  be  read  intelligently,  as  Oriental  ac- 
counts written  by  and  for  an  Oriental  people. 

"Speaking  as  an  engineer,  it  seems  to  me  that 
the  Flood  of  Noah  bears  a  close  resemblance  to 
the  terrible  floods  that  come  down  the  Tigris  and 
Euphrates  rivers.  As  you  know,  the  land  near 
these  rivers  does  not  come  down  like  banks  but 
actually  falls  away  from  it  at  a  slope  of  five  feet 
to  a  mile.  Noah 's  Ark,  built  on  the  threat  of  the 
flood,  floated  southwards  with  the  current  until  it 
came  to  the  swirl  and  backwash  where  the  Tigris 
and  Euphrates  meet.  There  it  stranded  on  one 
of  the  desert  mounds  which  border  the  Shatt-el- 
Arab  marshes,  just  as  the  Babylonian  cuneiform 
account  of  the  Deluge  states,  and  the  mounds 
there  are  called  by  the  Arabs  'the  landing-place 
of  Noah'  to  this  day. 


156      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

"There,  in  the  fertile  marshland,  the  descend- 
ants of  Noah  spread  and  developed,  and  the  first 
cities  mentioned  in  the  Bible,  Babel,  Erech,  Nine- 
veh, and  the  rest,  were  all  in  this  land  of  Meso- 
potamia, between  the  rivers.1  Near  where  the 
Ark  stranded,  arose  the  city  Ur  of  the  Chaldees 
where  Abraham  was  born,  and  from  whence  he 
went  with  his  whole  tribe  northward  and  west- 
ward until  they  came  to  the  land  of  Palestine  and 
laid  the  foundation  of  the  Jewish  nation. 

"I  have  spent  thirty  years  in  Egypt  and  Baby- 
lonia," the  Englishman  continued,  "and  I  don't 
hesitate  to  say  that  with  the  carrying  out  of  a  few 
improvements,  controlling  the  floods  of  the  two 
rivers,  and  creating  an  enormous  natural  reser- 
voir, the  Grarden  of  Eden  could  be  restored.  I 
have  surveyed  every  foot  of  the  ground  accu- 
rately, and  by  modern  workings  we  can  secure  a 
head  of  water  forty  feet  higher  than  the  ancient 
Babylonians  possessed.  Thus  the  whole  valley 
of  the  Tigris  and  the  Euphrates  from  Hit  clear 
down  to  the  mouth  of  the  Shatt-el-Arab  could  be- 
come even  more  luxuriant  than  before. ' ' 

"Do  you  suppose  Germany  knows  that?"  asked 

i  The  Garden  of  Eden  according  to  Sumerian  tradition  was  in 
this  section,  but  it  is  a  later  tradition  than  that  of  Genesis. 


THE  CHASE  ON  THE  TIGRIS     157 

David,  beginning  to  see  the  purpose  that  lay  be- 
hind the  Mesopotamian  campaign. 

The  engineer  smiled. 

"You  can  be  perfectly  sure  she  does,"  he  an- 
swered. "If  the  Berlin  to  Bagdad  railway  is 
finished  with  German  capital,  and  if  Germany 
gets  from  Turkey  the  concessions  to  construct  the 
irrigation  works  along  these  two  rivers,  she  can 
have  a  tremendous  colony  here,  in  one  of  the 
richest  valleys  of  the  world,  easily  able  to  support 
a  population  of  ten  million  people,  and  a  perma- 
nent granary  for  the  extension  of  her  Eastern 
schemes." 

"They  might  even  rebuild  Babylon !"  suggested 
the  boy. 

"Never  by  that  name,"  the  engineer  answered. 
' '  But  it  is  sure  that  a  modern  city  would  be  built 
near  there,  or  near  Seleucia  or  Ctesiphon.  That 
narrow  neck  of  land  between  the  rivers  is  an  all- 
important  strategical  point. 

"But,"  he  continued,  stretching  his  arms  with 
a  mighty  yawn,  "Germany's  never  going  to  have 
•the  chance  to  do  that,  now.  By  bringing  on  this 
war,  she's  given  England  a  chance  to  step  in. 
Germany  won't  win  the  war,  that's  sure,  for  Eng- 
land has  never  lost  any  war  that  she  has  begun, 


158      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

unless,  perhaps,  as  an  American  boy,  you  like  to 
consider  the  revolt  of  the  American  colonies  a 
real  war.  In  any  case,  Germany 's  way  of  making 
war  is  one  in  which,  if  she  doesn't  win  in  the  first 
few  weeks,  her  chances  get  steadily  less.  Meso- 
potamia will  become  the  Garden  of  Eden  again, 
but,  unless  I  am  mistaken,  the  overlordship  will 
be  in  English  hands,  for  England  thoroughly  un- 
derstands how  to  handle  Mohammedan  peoples 
and  is  trusted  by  them. 

1  'Now,  David,"  he  concluded,  "I  think  you  had 
better  turn  in  and  sleep,  for  we  're  breaking  camp 
in  the  morning,  as  I  want  to  get  down  and  get  in 
touch  with  the  British  at  Basra. ' ' 

"At  Basra!"  exclaimed  David,  in  surprise. 
"Why,  the  Turks  are  there!" 

"I  know  they  are,"  the  engineer  replied  cheer- 
fully. "But,  by  the  time  we  get  down  there,  I 
shouldn't  be  surprised  if  the  Tommies  had  already 
taken  it." 

"But  how  will  you  get  through?"  queried 
David,  remembering  the  Turkish  Army  that  lay 
between  them  and  Basra. 

"I  haven't  the  ghost  of  an  idea,"  came  the 
astonishing  reply,  "but  we'll  manage  to  keep  our 
skins  whole,  never  fear.  I  always  have,  so  far." 


THE  CHASE  ON  THE  TIGRIS     159 

Willingly  David  went  into  the  little  house  that 
the  engineer  had  built  and  slept  soundly  in  a 
small  room  thoroughly  appointed  after  the  Eng- 
lish fashion.  But,  when  a  servant  awakened  him 
the  following  morning,  the  boy's  mind  ran  back 
to  the  predicament  in  which  they  were  placed  and 
he  racked  his  brain  to  try  to  imagine  some  possible 
way  whereby  they  could  escape  the  Turkish  Army 
that  lay  between  them  and  the  sea. 

At  breakfast,  David  could  hardly  keep  from 
questioning  his  hast,  but  the  big  Englishman 
seemed  perfectly  tranquil,  and  gave  orders  to  his 
servants  and  the  headmen  of  his  Arabs  with  re- 
gard to  the  dispositions  of  the  day. 

Not  until  the  horses  were  actually  brought  up 
to  the  door,  and  both  he  and  the  boy  were  in  the 
saddles  would  he  say  a  word  about  his  plans. 
Then,  riding  to  the  front  of  the  party,  he  began  to 
explain. 

"In  an  Oriental  country,  David, "  he  said, 
"never  speak  of  secrets  in  a  house.  No  vig- 
ilance will  ensure  that  you  will  not  be  overheard. 
Not  that  Arabs  are  untrustworthy,  but  that  their 
ways  of  thought  are  different  from  ours.  I  take 
this  precaution  although  most  of  the  men  would 
follow  me  blindly  anywhere.  Most  of  them  are 


160     WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

men  whose  freedom  I  have  purchased  from  Turk- 
ish jails,  in  which  they  were  illegally  committed, 
and  others  are  their  friends  and  relatives.  All 
are  well-armed  and  there  is  no  reason  to  fear  a 
raid." 

"Are  you  going  to  make  a  long  sweep  west- 
ward through  the  desert,  then?"  asked  David. 

' '  No, ' '  answered  the  engineer.  *  *  I  am  going  to 
Bagdad." 

The  simple  statement  took  David's  breath 
away. 

' '  But  Bagdad  is  full  of  Turks ! "  he  ejaculated. 

The  engineer  nodded. 

1  i  But  not  of  Germans, ' '  he  answered.  *  *  One  of 
my  headmen  went  to  Bagdad  the  day  before  yes- 
terday to  spy  out  the  land.  He  can  be  trusted. 
He  was  a  mail-carrier,  who  was  robbed  and  half- 
murdered  on  the  road  by  Arabs,  and  whom  the 
Turks  put  in  prison  to  starve  to  death  because 
some  of  the  mail  of  which  he  was  robbed  con- 
tained government  money.  It  wasn't  his  fault 
that  he  was  robbed,  but  he  had  to  take  all  the 
blame.  When  I  paid  the  sum  of  money  that  had 
been  lost,  they  freed  him. 

"He  says  that  all  the  German  officers  have  gone 


THE  CHASE  ON  THE  TIGRIS     161 

forward  with  the  army  that  is  advancing  to  the 
support  of  Basra.  There  are  only  a  few  German 
officials  left  in  the  city,  and  they  are  of  lesser  rank. 
The  Turk,  alone,  is  not  difficult  to  handle." 

''You  mean  he  can  be  bribed?"  queried  David. 

"That,  sometimes,  but  not  always,"  the  Eng- 
lishman replied.  "The  Turk  is  a  curious  mix- 
ture. As  a  political  measure  he  will  order  and 
carry  out  massacres  and  wholesale  atrocities  in 
a  way  that  makes  the  whole  world  shrink  with 
horror,  and  yet,  individually,  he  is  courteous, 
chivalrous,  and  a  gentleman.  I  think  I  can  man- 
age to  make  my  way  through,  peacefully. ' ' 

"And  if  not?"  asked  the  boy. 

There  was  a  slight  tightening  of  the  eyes,  and 
the  English  engineer,  though  by  no  means  a  young 
man,  tightened  his  lips  grimly. 

"Then,"  he  said  quietly,  "we  might  be  com- 
pelled to  remember  that  we  are  at  war  with 
Turkey." 

David  wriggled  in  his  saddle,  delighted  but 
half  frightened.  There  were  not  many  people,  he 
thought,  who  would  cheerfully  ride  into  a  large 
and  populous  city  of  enemies,  heavily  garrisoned, 
and  announce  his  intention  of  fighting  his  way  out 


1 62      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

if  his  orders  were  not  obeyed.  But  the  English- 
man in  the  East  is  the  Master.  And  he  knows  it. 
And  the  East  knows  it,  too. 

From  Hit  to  Bagdad  is  two  and  a  half  days' 
ride  and  the  sun  shone  high  when  they  rode  into 
the  city  of  the  Caliphs,  the  home  of  Haroun-al- 
Rasohid,  made  immortal  in  the  " Arabian  Nights." 
They  crossed  on  the  famous  pontoon  bridge,  a 
bridge  of  boats  which  has  been  there  for  a  thou- 
sand years. 

On  the  way  across  the  bridge  the  engineer 
pointed  to  a  cluster  of  new  buildings  some  dis- 
tance upstream. 

"There's  the  terminus  of  the  Berlin-to-Bagdad 
railway,"  he  said.  "There's  a  good  deal  of  it 
built,  you  know,  but  the  middle  bit  is  mountain- 
ous and  tricky  engineering,  and,  before  Fritz 
finishes  the  construction  of  that  middle  bit,  the 
western  terminus  will  be  Paris,  not  Berlin. ' ' 

The  gilded  minarets  and  domes  of  the  mosques 
shone  with  a  fierce  glare  as  David  rode  into  Bag- 
dad with  the  engineer,  but  the  boy  who  had  been 
looking  forward  all  the  morning  to  seeing  the  city, 
suddenly  forgot  the  wonder  of  the  past  in  the 
anxiety  of  the  present. 

The  importance  of  the  past  had  diminished. 


THE  CHASE  ON  THE  TIGRIS     163 

The  importance  of  the  moment  had  become  por- 
tentous. 

It  is  one  thing  to  read  about  going  into  a  city 
of  enemies.  It  is  another  thing  to  do  it. 

Gold  chills  crept  along  the  boy's  back. 

The  streets  were  filled  with  'soldiers.  Crowds 
jostled  each  other  in  the  incredibly  narrow 
streets.  They  pressed  closer.  Many  faces  were 
threatening.  The  trotting  horses  were  slowed 
down  to  a  walk. 

The  engineer  was  well  known  in  Bagdad  and 
one  word  began  to  simmer  through  the  crowd. 

"Inglezy!" 

The  engineer  spoke  to  the  boy  in  an  aside. 

"Don't  hold  back  your  horse,  David.  What- 
ever you  do,  don't  let  him  stop.  If  you  have  to 
ride  through  the  crowd,  ride  through.  If  you 
have  to  ride  over  it,  ride  over.  Keep  your  seat 
and  your  head  and  just  ride  on. ' ' 

A  fanatic  threw  up  his  arms  and  shrieked,  in 
high-pitched  Turkish. 

"Ugly!"  said  the  engineer,  in  an  undertone. 
"Watch  out,  boy!" 

The  crowd  surged  forward.  One  man  threw 
himself  directly  in  the  path  of  the  engineer's 
horse. 


1 64      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

A  touch  of  the  spur,  a  lift  on  the  bridle  and  the 
good  horse  reared.  The  descending  hoofs  fell 
and  one  struck  full  on  the  man's  shoulder,  hurling 
him  to  the  street. 

The  engineer  looked  neither  to  the  right  nor  to 
the  left.  He  rode  on  over. 

Angry  cries  rang  behind,  and  once  there  was  a 
clash  of  knives. 

11  Don't  look  back,  David,"  came  the  warning, 
"ride  straight  on." 

They  rode  on,  amid  Turks  and  Persians  and 
Jews,  past  Kurd  porters  staggering  along  with 
great  burdens  on  their  backs,  callously  pushing  to 
one  side  droves  of  coolie  women  all  but  lost  to 
view  under  enormous  loose  bundles  of  twigs  and 
desert  grass  roots  that  are  used  for  fuel,  hordes 
of  slaves  from  East  Africa,  and  blue-eyed 
Christians  of  old  Chaldean  stock.  A  motley 
crowd,  but  David  dared  only  glance  at  it  through 
the  corners  of  his  eyes. 

There  were  a  few  wonderful  mosaics  on  some 
of  the  walls,  a  few  enameled  mosque  entrances,  a 
few  massive  old  gates,  but  very  few.  Bagdad 
holds  little  of  the  ancient  glamor.  At  one  place, 
through  the  streets,  David  could  see  the  bazaars 
in  which  the  Caliph  'Haroun-al-Kaschid  strolled, 


WHEN  TURK  WAS  MASTER. 
Infantry  marching  to  their  billets,  between  the  garden  walls  of  Bagdad. 


-•••^^•HMKJMMkl     1.IMVMW     ••JHWI^MMfttMl^^'  .    .  JBHB_     -«• 

"  Sphere":    U.  S.  Copyright,  N.  Y.  Herald  Co. 

WHEN  TURK  WAS  DEFEATED 

A  contingent  of  prisoners  marching  through  Bagdad,  under  British 
guard,  to  their  detention  camp. 


THE  CHASE  ON  THE  TIGRIS     165 

and  where  happened  all  the  marvels  of  the  Porter 
and  the  Ladies  of  Bagdad.  Great  walls  of  olden 
time  loomed  up  on  every  side,  while  barred  and 
latticed  windows  told  of  a  harem  within. 

David  realized  little  of  all  this.  Though  it  had 
been  one  of  his  great  desires  to  visit  Bagdad,  the 
exaltation  of  daring  and  the  dark  pressure  of  ter- 
ror combined  to  hold  him  in  an  iron  grip,  and  he 
rode  on  through  the  city  whose  threat  seemed  to 
suffocate  him  even  as  much  as  the  smells  and 
vapors  of  the  crowded  streets  stifled  him. 

Suddenly  a  skinny  hand  shot  out  and  seized  the 
bridle  of  his  horse. 

For  a  second,  just  for  a  second,  the  boy  hesi- 
tated, and  then,  like  a  thunderbolt,  the  lead- 
weighted  butt  end  of  the  engineer's  whip  fell  on 
the  aggressor's  arm.  The  bones,  just  above  the 
wrist,  broke  with  a  sharp  crack.  There  was  a 
sharp  cry  of  pain,  echoed  by  a  rising  roar  of  anger 
from  the  crowd  around. 

But  the  engineer's  face  was  set  like  flint  and  the 
two  rode  on.  The  tumult  shrilled  behind  them, 
but  the  imperturbable  ignoring  of  the  crowd's 
presence  saved  the  situation.  They  came  to  the 
gate  of  the  Governor's  palace. 

"Inform  His  Excellency  the  Governor  that  His 


166      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

Excellency  the  Administrator  of  Waters  for  the 
Sultan  desires  to  see  him,"  came  the  astonishing 
order. 

A  puzzled  Turkish  sentry  took  the  message. 

The  crowd,  now  fallen  silent,  waited  to  see  what 
reception  the  Englishman  should  receive. 

In  a  moment  the  soldier  returned, 

"His  Excellency  says,  *  Enter,'  "  he  an- 
nounced. 

The  engineer  sat  stock  still. 

"His  Excellency  says,  ' Enter/  "  the  soldier 
repeated. 

"Where  is  the  guard?"  demanded  the  engineer, 
sharply.  "Is  so  little  honor  paid  to  the  Com- 
mander of  the  Faithful  in  his  city  of  Bagdad  that 
one  of  his  chosen  servants  should  enter  alone,  like 
a  suppliant  I ' ' 

The  soldier,  looking  frightened,  salaamed.  He 
returned  a  moment  later  with  the  captain  of  the 
guard,  and  half  a  dozen  men. 

Gravely  the  engineer  dismounted,  followed  by 
David,  who  was  watching  every  move. 

The  bridles  of  the  horses  were  taken  by  two  of 
the  soldiers.  Thereupon,  preceded  and  followed 
by  the  suddenly  summoned  Guard  of  Honor,  the 


THE  CHASE  ON  THE  TIGRIS     167 

Englishman  and  the  American  boy  entered  the 
luxurious  chamber  of  the  governor,  its  walls, 
crude  and  bare,  but  the  floor  covered  with  old 
Persian  rugs  of  incredible  softness  and  beauty. 

The  governor  was  utterly  bewildered,  but  re- 
ceived his  guests  with  stately  ceremony.  He 
knew  that  he  had  given  no  order  for  the  guard  to 
turn  out,  and  consequently  supposed  that  the 
captain  of  the  guard  knew  some  details  regarding 
his  visitors  concerning  which  he,  himself,  was  not 
aware.  He  knew,  vaguely,  that  the  Sultan  and 
the  Germans  had  been  planning  the  irrigation 
works  on  the  Euphrates.  He  had  heard,  also, 
that  the  engineer  had  always  been  described  as 
an  Englishman.  What  he  did  not  know  was  that 
the  Englishman  was  a  famous  engineer  in  Egypt 
and  had  been  summoned  by  the  Sultan  during 
peace-time,  to  make  a  complete  survey  of  the 
irrigation  works.  What  Turkey  and  Germany 
did  not  know  was  that  this  survey  was  being  done 
in  the  expectation  that  English  diplomacy  would 
yet  secure  the  concession  and  thus  a  powerful 
British  post  might  be  established  not  far  from  one 
of  the  most  important  and  inaccessible  points  of 
the  Berlin-to-Bagdad  Railway. 


1 68      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

After  salutations  and  the  customory  lapse  of 
time  for  ceremonial,  the  engineer  came  directly 
to  the  point  of  his  visit. 

"I  need  an  escort  of  fifty  men,"  he  said,  curtly. 
"  Also,  I  need  a  river-boat  as  far  as  Amara." 

The  governor  protested  in  dismay.  There  was 
no  boat.  There  was  no  river  transportation  left 
in  Bagdad.  The  Turkish  force  that  had  gone 
down  to  Basra  had  taken  absolutely  everything 
left  in  the  city.  Even  the  governor's  pleasure- 
launch,  he  complained,  had  been  commandeered. 
And,  while  he  thus  talked  glibly,  the  governor's 
mind  worked  fast.  This  Englishman,  he  decided, 
must  be  a  German  who  had  been  posing  as  an 
Englishman  for  the  better  pursuit  of  the  crooked 
intrigues  of  diplomacy. 

Thus  satisfied  within  himself  that  he  had  found 
the  clew,  and  knowing  that  German  agents  were 
the  most  powerful  friends  possible  in  Turkey  at 
the  time,  the  Governor  bethought  him  of  a  power- 
launch  belonging  to  one  of  his  assistants  which 
had  been  laid  up  for  some  minor  repairs.  He  had 
reason  to  remember  it,  for  he  had  been  sharply 
taken  to  task  about  it  by  the  German  commandant 
in  Bagdad,  a  few  days  before,  on  the  ground  that 
he  lacked  energy  in  pushing  the  Holy  War,  know- 


THE  CHASE  ON  THE  TIGRIS     169 

ing  that  every  river  craft,  no  matter  how  small, 
was  in  urgent  demand. 

"It  can  be  ready  in  two  days,  Your  Excellency," 
the  Governor  explained,  at  the  same  time  deciding 
that  he  would  send  a  message  by  relay  to  the 
Commanding  Officer  of  the  army  that  had  started 
south,  to  inform  him  as  to  the  visit  of  this 
stranger  Englishman.  Thus,  if  the  engineer 
were  a  German,  he  would  get  credit  for  as- 
sisting him;  if  there  were  anything  dubious,  he 
would  get  credit  for  having  put  the  Germans  on 
their  guard. 

"That  will  be  soon  enough,"  replied^  the  en- 
gineer, and  David  wondered,  for  he  knew  that 
every  minute  was  valuable.  "Where  is  this  boat 
to  be  found?"  he  asked. 

The  governor,  delighted  that  the  matter  had 
been  arranged  so  simply,  sent  for  the  captain  of 
the  guard  and  ordered  him  to  escort  the  engineer 
and  David  to  a  little  yard  by  the  river-side. 

The  engineer  touched  David  on  the  shoulder. 

"Our  luck  is  holding,"  he  said,  in  a  low  voice. 
1 1  This  yard  is  below  the  bridge  of  boats. ' ' 

David  wondered  what  this  could  imply,  but 
there  had  been  so  many  surprises  since  their  en- 
trance to  Bagdad,  that  he  did  not  even  ask  for  an 


170     WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

explanation.  He  could  not  resist  remarking, 
however, 

1 '  It  '11  be  a  tight  fit  for  an  escort  of  fifty  soldiers 
in  that  boat.  It  would  be  small  for  half-a-dozen." 

"We  won't  need  the  escort,"  the  engineer  re- 
marked. 

Which  set  David  wondering  more  than  ever,  for 
he  had  thought  that  the  engineer's  principal  pur- 
pose in  risking  exposure  and  imprisonment  in 
Bagdad  was  the  securing  of  an  armed  escort. 

"Where  are  we  going  to  stay  while  we  are  in 
Bagdad!"  David  asked. 

"That  will  be  the  Governor's  affair,"  the  en- 
gineer replied.  "If  I  have  duly  impressed  him, 
as  I  believe,  quarters  will  have  been  provided  for 
us." 

So  it  proved.  Not  far  from  the  house  of  the 
Governor,  which  was  situated  close  to  the  Citadel, 
the  Captain  of  the  Guard  led  the  two  travelers. 
Their  Arab  servants  had  already  been  installed, 
and,  in  the  simple  fashion  of  the  East,  all  that 
would  be  needed  was  already  provided. 

After  the  evening  meal,  the  engineer  said 
loudly, 

"Come,  David,  we  may  find  something  in  the 
bazaars  to  please  us." 


THE  CHASE  ON  THE  TIGRIS     171 

A  lift  of  the  eyebrows  told  the  lad  that  behind 
this  suggestion  there  was  a  plan.  He  rose  and 
got  ready  to  go  out.  Before  leaving  the  room  the 
engineer,  unobserved,  slipped  David  a  revolver. 

One  of  the  minor  officers  of  the  guard,  who  had 
been  posted  with  four  of  his  men  outside  the 
house,  ostensibly  as  a  guard  of  honor,  but,  as 
David  well  realized,  far  more  as  a  measure  of 
suspicion,  called  two  of  his  men  and  they  fell  into 
line  behind. 

"Three  against  two,"  remarked  the  engineer 
significantly. 

He  led  the  way  to  the  bazaar  by  which  they  had 
passed  that  morning,  and  went  from  one  little 
cubby-hole  to  another.  Like  many  eastern  ba- 
zaars, that  of  Bagdad  was  of  the  ancient  type,  a 
street  of  small  square  rooms,  or  cubicles,  without 
windows,  open  to  the  street.  Few  of  them  were 
more  than  ten  feet  square.  Some  were  so  small 
that  they  held  only  the  figure  of  the  merchant  or 
workman,  as  the  case  might  be,  who  carried  on  his 
trade  under  the  eyes  of  the  passers-by. 

Suddenly  the  Englishman  stopped  at  the  stall  of 
an  iron-worker  and  asked  the  price  of  a  large  and 
heavy  pot  of  hammered  metal.  The  customary 
haggling  followed,  but  the  purchase  was  finally 


172      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

effected.  A  porter  was  then  called  and  ordered 
to  take  the  great  jar  to  the  house  where  the  en- 
gineer was  staying. 

Then,  without  a  moment's  warning,  the  en- 
gineer wheeled  round  on  one  of  the  soldiers, 

1  'Follow  him  to  the  house.  Direct  him  there. 
See  that  he  does  not  steal  it!" 

Unconsciously  the  Turk  saluted,  German  fash- 
ion, and  then  hesitated.  He  had  received  no  or- 
ders from  his  officer.  The  latter,  being  of  minor 
rank,  had  neither  the  wit  nor  the  quickness  to 
assume  responsibility,  nor,  even  if  he  had,  would 
he  have  dared  countermand  an  order  given  by  any 
one  as  authoritative  as  seemed  the  English  en- 
gineer, who,  moreover,  he  knew,  had  been  received 
by  the  Governor  only  that  afternoon.  He  gave  an 
affirmative  nod,  and  the  soldier  followed  after  the 
porter. 

"Two  against  two!"  declared  the  engineer,  in 
English. 

It  was  clear  that  a  project  was  in  the  air,  and 
David  observed  that  the  engineer  now  turned 
away  from  the  bazaars  and  began  to  walk  toward 
the  lower  part  of  the  city. 

The  minor  officer  now  edged  closer. 


THE  CHASE  ON  THE  TIGRIS     173 

"If  His  Excellency  will  permit,"  he  said,  "the 
way  is  not  yonder,  but  hither." 

"My  way  is  yonder,"  was  the  curt  reply,  and 
the  engineer  walked  on,  David  finding  trouble  to 
keep  pace  with  him.  Being  the  time  of  evening 
prayer  the  streets  were  almost  empty,  and  the 
small  party  advanced  swiftly. 

This  put  the  minor  officer  in  a  frenzy.  He  real- 
ized that  some  plot  was  in  the  wind,  he  had  no 
means  of  communicating  with  his  senior  officer, 
and  he  was  afraid  that  the  Inglezy  was  trying  to 
escape.  Calling  the  other  soldier,  therefore,  he 
bade  him  go  as  quickly  as  possible  to  the  bridge 
of  boats,  which  they  were  now  approaching,  but  to 
go  by  a  shorter  way,  and  to  tell  the  keeper  of  the 
bridge  to  say  that  he  had  received  orders  to  let 
no  one  pass  that  evening.  The  soldier  went,  as 
directed,  and  was  lost  to  view  in  the  tangle  of 
small  streets. 

"One  against  two,"  declared  tLe  Englishman 
grimly,  when  he  saw  him  go. 

Then,  swerving  sharply  to  the  left,  as  though 
he  knew  the  streets  of  Bagdad  thoroughly,  the  en- 
gineer made  his  way  through  some  narrow  alleys 
and  lanes,  coming  to  the  edge  of  the  riverside, 


174      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

close  by  where  the  power-launch  was  being  re- 
paired. 

Wheeling  swiftly,  the  engineer  then  drew  his  re- 
volver and  pointed  it  full  at  the  chest  of  the  Turk. 

"If  you  move,"  he  said,  "or  cry  out,  you  can 
bid  farewell  to  the  sun ! ' ' 

The  soldier,  a  true  Mohammedan,  saw  at  once 
that  he  had  no  chance  for  defense. 

"All  things  happen  by  the  will  of  Allah,"  he 
answered  quietly,  surrendering  at  once. 

"Take  away  his  weapons,  David,"  said  the 
Englishman,  still  covering  him  with  the  revolver. 

So  David  took  away  his  rifle  and  ammunition 
and  his  trench-knife — for  he  was  equipped  in  all 
points  in  the  fashion  of  the  German  Army — and 
placed  them  in  the  power-launch,  as  the  engineer 
directed. 

"Now,  lad,"  he  continued,  "take  out  your  re- 
volver and  keep  him  covered.  If  he  tries  to  es- 
cape or  cries  out,  shoot  him  on  the  spot. ' ' 

With  a  show  of  bravery  David  drew  his  revol- 
ver, but  in  his  heart  of  hearts  he  wondered  if  he 
would  have  the  courage  to  shoot  in  cold  blood. 

The  soldier  saw  this,  and  rolling  a  cigarette,  he 
said, 


175 

"Youth,  do  not  think  that  I  am  in  any  fear  of 
your  gun,  for  I  see  in  your  eye  that  you  would  not 
shoot.  Still,  be  not  troubled,  for  the  Inglezy  is  a 
man  of  war  and  I  have  no  weapons. ' ' 

The  engineer  overheard,  and  turning  around, 
declared : 

"You  are  right,  Soldier,  better  submission  to 
Fate  than  an  early  death." 

Then,  swiftly  working  with  a  few  tools,  though 
making  as  little  noise  as  possible,  the  engineer  set 
together  the  parts  which  had  been  taken  apart  by 
the  Turkish  mechanics.  Within  half  an  hour,  a 
sharp  rattle  from  the  exhaust  pipe  told  that  the 
engine  was  working. 

The  engineer  took  out  his  revolver  again. 

"Jump  in,  David,"  he  said,  "while  I  keep  him 
covered, ' '  and,  as  soon  as  the  boy  was  in  the  boat, 
the  engineer  boarded  it,  still  keeping  the  Turkish 
soldier  covered  with  his  gun. 

"Shove  off,  boy,"  came  the  next  command  and 
the  launch  shot  out  into  the  stream. 

The  "chug-chug-chug"  of  the  engines  rang  out 
against  the  silence  of  the  night,  but  the  launch 
made  no  advance.  She  floated  out  on  the  surface 
of  the  river,  leaving  the  Turkish  soldier  seated  on 


176      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

the  freeboard  of  a  river  canoe,  laid  up  for  repair 
in  the  boat-builders'  shop. 

'  *  She  isn  't  going  ahead ! ' '  cried  David  in  alarm. 

"I  know  it,"  said  the  engineer  calmly,  "she's  in 
pretty  poor  shape,  and,  what's  more,  I  think  that 
wily  rogue  of  a  governor  knew  it,  too.  I  doubt  if 
there's  a  Turkish  mechanic  who  could  repair  this 
boat.  We  would  not  have  been  let  go  in  two  days, 
nor  yet  in  twenty-two.  But  you  see,  David,  I  ran 
the  engine  for  a  few  minutes  so  as  to  make  the 
soldier  believe  that  the  boat  was  in  good  order. 
He  will  report  that  to  the  Governor  and  we  shall 
be  safe." 

"How?"  said  the  boy.  "If  the  launch  doesn't 
work,  they'll  be  able  to  catch  us  in  half  an  hour 
with  a  belum"  (river  canoe). 

"They  could,"  the  engineer  agreed,  "but  they 
won't.  The  sergeant,  or  whatever  he  is,  back 
there,  will  return  and  report  that  he  saw  and 
heard  us  start  off  with  the  full  noise  of  the  engine. 
I  imagine  this  has  been  a  tophole  launch  in  her 
day  and  they'll  think  we've  got  a  good  start." 

* '  That  wouldn  't  prevent  them  chasing  us, ' '  said 
the  boy. 

"But  every  boat  which  could  move  under  her 
own  power  has  already  gone  downstream  with 


THE  CHASE  ON  THE  TIGRIS     177 

the  German  and  Turkish  force,"  came  the  retort. 

' *  That's  right,"  said  David,  "I'd  forgotten 
that.  Then  all  that  fleet  is  down  on  the  river  in 
front  of  us,  a  little  way  below. ' ' 

1 1  It 's  there, ' '  the  Englishman  said  cheerfully. 

"Between  us  and  Basra?" 

"Exactly." 

"Then  I  don't  see,"  replied  David,  "where 
we've  gained  much  by  leaving  our  horses  behind 
and  taking  to  a  boat. ' ' 

"If  I  can  get  this  pesky  engine  tuned  up  by 
daylight,"  the  engineer  replied,  "you'll  see  why. 
The  Tigris  twists  and  turns  so  that  you  have  to  go 
two  or  maybe  three  miles  to  one  on  land.  On  the 
other  hand,  by  the  shore  route,  you  have  to  make 
long  and  time-wasting  detours  to  get  away  from 
the  swamp  lands  and  the  marshes.  Taking  it  all 
in  all,  a  horseman  can  go  only  twice  as  fast  as  the 
current  of  the  river. 

"If  then,  the  Governor  should  send  a  horseman 
down  the  river  to  warn  the  troops  that  we  are  in 
this  launch,  the  news  would  reach  them  before  we 
could  float  down  so  far,  supposing  that  we  depend 
only  on  the  drift  of  the  current.  If,  however,  I 
can  get  the  engine  to  work,  we  can  go  twice  as 
fast  by  water  as  a  horseman  can  travel  by  land. 


178      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

I  can't  do  much  by  night,  however,  for  I  haven't 
a  light.  We'd  better  try  to  get  as  much  sleep 
as  we  can  and  I'll  start  working  on  the  engine  with 
the  first  glimpse  of  dawn." 

Worn  out  by  the  day's  excitement,  David  lay 
down  on  the  bench  of  the  launch  and,  soothed  by 
the  gentle  rocking  of  the  boat  on  the  Tigris  cur- 
rent, he  sank  into  a  deep  sleep  from  which  he  did 
not  waken  until  he  heard  the  tap-tapping  cf  metal 
on  metal.  Opening  his  eyes  sleepily,  he  saw  the 
engineer  busily  at  work  on  the  machinery  of  the 
motor-boat,  and  sunrise  over  the  distant  hills  of 
Persia  and  the  lowlands  of  the  Tigris  Valley. 

Rested  and  refreshed  by  his  sleep,  the  lad  called 
out, 

"Can  you  fix  it,  sir?" 

"I  hope  so,  my  boy,"  the  engineer  replied, 
"though  some  half -mechanic  has  been  trying  to 
repair  it  and  has  made  the  break  ten  times  worse 
than  it  originally  was.  But  I  know  quite  a  bit 
about  engines." 

The  tinkering  went  on  as  the  sun  rose.  They 
passed  many  goofas,  queer  round  boats  that  look 
like  floating  bubbles  of  tar  that  progress  with  a 
spinning  motion,  black  boats  pitched  within  and 


THE  CHASE  ON  THE  TIGRIS     179 

without  like  the  Ark  built  by  Noah  on  the  same 
river  thousands  of  years  ago. 

*  *  There 's  a  bit  of  a  village  over  there, ' '  the  en- 
gineer remarked  presently.  "You  might  try  to 
get  some  grub.  I'll  risk  running  her  in  as  far  as 
the  bank  with  a  temporary  adjustment." 

The  "chug-chug"  rose  with  its  insistent  clamor 
on  the  stream,  until  the  boat  grounded  a  hundred 
yards  from  the  shore. 

Obedient  to  the  order,  David  had  just  put  one 
leg  over  the  side  of  the  boat  to  wade  ashore  when 
the  engineer  stopped  him,  on  seeing  the  villagers 
crowd  to  the  waterside. 

" Never  mind,  lad,"  he  said,  "they're  going  to 
come  out  to  us.  Be  ready  to  shove  off  if  they 
mean  to  be  ugly. ' ' 

The  river  Arabs  looked  ugly  enough  and  David 
noticed  that  every  one  was  armed  with  a  rifle. 

"We  want  to  buy  some  food,"  the  Englishman 
shouted  in  Arabic. 

The  villagers  came  closer. 

"Shove  off,"  said  the  engineer  in  a  low  voice, 
* '  and  the  second  she 's  afloat  get  your  head  behind 
the  bulwarks.  Arabs  always  fire  too  high." 

David  put  his  will  back  of  the  push  that  he  gave 


180     WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

to  the  pole  and  the  little  launch  shot  out  into  the 
stream.  The  engine  chug-chugged  contentedly  as 
half  a  dozen  bullets  came  whistling  through  the 
air. 

"We  won't  eat  breakfast  at  the  ' first  table,'  " 
remarked  the  engineer  with  a  laugh,  stopping  the 
engine  as  soon  as  the  boat  was  out  of  gunshot. 

The  boat  drifted  idly  but  steadily  down  the 
river,  the  three  mile  current  taking  them  steadily 
but  slowly  past  the  monotonous  mud  banks  of  the 
Tigris.  A  single  hut,  of  the  river-Arab  type, 
merely  a  brushwood  shelter  large  enough  to  hold 
the  family  canoe  and  the  family,  offered  a  better 
chance  of  breakfast.  Some  dates,  a  handful  of 
meal,  and  a  freshly  caught  fish  changed  hands  for 
some  Turkish  gold. 

The  morning  was  well  advanced  when  the  en- 
gineer straightened  up  and  wiped  the  perspiration 
from  his  forehead.  The  sun  was  cruelly  hot. 

"There,"  he  said,  "I  think  she'll  do  now. 
We're  short  of  gasoline,  though,  and  I  don't  know 
where  to  get  any  more.  However,  we  can't 
afford  to  delay,  for  if  a  messenger  has  been  sent, 
he'll  have  been  riding  all  night.  The  little  craft 
will  have  to  do  the  best  she  can.  I'll  take  her  at 
easy  speed  though.  You'd  better  take  the  wheel, 


THE  CHASE  ON  THE  TIGRIS     181 

David,  as  I  '11  have  to  keep  my  eye  on  this  rickety 
engine. ' ' 

Again  the  silence  of  the  Tigris  was  broken  by 
the  sharp  exhaust  from  an  over-engined  motor- 
boat.  Once  or  twice  the  craft  grated  over  the  top 
of  a  shoal  in  the  river,  for  the  Tigris  is  incredibly 
shallow.  Once  she  actually  stuck  and  could  not 
be  floated  until  both  the  Englishman  and  the  boy 
had  jumped  overboard  to  lighten  her.  But  she 
went  on,  just  the  same.  All  that  day  they  ran  the 
engine,  they  drifted  during  the  night,  the  engineer 
steering  between  naps.  Twice  he  roused  the  boy 
to  help  him  off  a  shoal  on  which  the  boat  had 
grounded.  On  the  morning  of  the  next  day,  Kut 
came  in  sight. 

The  bridge  of  boats  just  above  Kut-el-Amara 
was  open,  or,  to  speak  more  correctly,  broken,  as 
a  result  of  the  passage  of  the  river  craft  which 
had  accompanied  the  main  body  of  the  Turkish 
advance  force.  Kut,  being  occupied  by  a  gar- 
rison, was  a  point  of  danger. 

David  stared  with  all  his  eyes.  He  had  ex- 
pected the  engineer  to  stop  the  engines.  Then, 
both  lying  down  so  that  they  would  be  hidden  by 
the  bulwarks  of  the  boat,  he  expected  to  float 
slowly  by  Kut,  hoping  that  with  Oriental  disin- 


1 82      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

terest,  no  one  would  be  sufficiently  concerned  to 
go  and  capture  a  drifting  boat. 

Not  at  all. 

Almost  at  full  speed  and  making  all  the  noise 
of  which  she  was  capable,  the  motor  launch  puffed 
up  importantly  to  a  dilapidated  dispatch-boat, 
with  a  Turkish  officer  smoking  in  the  stern. 

"Von  Behrein  Pasha  has  gone  farther  down 
river,  I  suppose?"  the  engineer  asked,  in  fluent 
Turkish. 

The  officer  nodded,  indolently. 

"And  where  is  the  petrol  station?" 

"There  is  none  here,"  was  the  reply,  "but  a 
barge  with  some  tanks  was  towed  down  from  Bag- 
dad. It  is  moored  half  a  mile  downstream. ' ' 

The  engineer  thanked  him  politely  and,  in  the 
interchange  of  salutations  learned  the  officer's 
name,  and  that  of  the  local  commandant.  The 
motor-boat  then  sped  off  to  the  gasoline  barge. 

On  arriving,  the  Englishman  rapped  out  a  sharp 
order  to  the  sleepy  attendant  and  tossed  him  a 
piece  of  money. 

The  man  hurried  at  the  sight  of  the  silver;  a 
pipe  was  run  from  the  barge  to  the  boat  and  the 
small  tank  filled.  And,  as  the  gasoline  gurgled 
into  the  tank,  the  engineer  said  to  David,  in  Eng- 


THE  CHASE  ON  THE  TIGRIS     183 

lish,  but  in  a  low  tone  so  that  the  attendant  could 
not  hear  that  a  foreign  language  was  being 
spoken : 

"See  that  horseman  coming  into  town  at  full 
speed?  In  all  probability,  that  is  the  courier 
from  Bagdad,  telling  of  our  flight." 

"What  shall  we  do  now?"  queried  David. 

"Run  for  it,"  the  engineer  answered  laconi- 
cally, and,  shoving  off  from  the  barge,  he  set  the 
head  of  the  launch  down  river. 

High-hulled  and  tall-masted  mahaylas  with 
their  brown  sails  slightly  bellied  by  the  wind,  were 
passed  as  though  they  were  anchored  in  the 
slightly  rippling  brown  river.  Little  reed-hut 
villages  appeared  on  the  banks,  for  in  this  section 
there  was  no  sign  of  the  black  tents  of  the  desert 
dwellers.  In  this  stretch  the  Tigris  passes 
through — and  over — sand-drifts,  and  stretches  of 
powdered  dust,  which  every  little  eddy  of  wind 
whirls  up  into  a  choking  horror. 

The  speed  made  by  the  motor-boat,  however, 
not  only  created  a  pleasant  breeze,  but  speedily 
left  behind  the  sleepy  and  mud-built  Kut-el-Amara 
with  its  rim  of  dust-covered  date-palms,  Kut-el- 
Amara,  a  little  later  to  go  down  to  history  as  one 
of  the  world's  great  battle-fields. 


1 84     WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

From  Kut-el-Amara  to  Amara  is  180  miles  by 
river,  but  the  little  motor-boat  reached  Amara 
during  the  night.  There,  as  at  Kut,  a  bridge  of 
boats  spanned  the  way.  Ordinarily  toll  is  to  be 
paid,  and  the  rafts  do  not  come  down  the  river  at 
night.  The  bridge-keeper  was  not  present,  how- 
ever, so  the  engineer  quietly  shut  off  the  power 
half  a  mile  out  of  the  town  and  floated  down  with 
the  current  until  the  motor-boat  was  tap-tapping 
softly  against  the  bridge  of  boats.  Then  he 
clambered  on  the  pontoons,  opened  the  bridge  and 
floated  through.  A  near-by  motor-boat  fastened 
to  a  wharf  offered  an  opportunity  of  abstracting 
some  gasoline.  Again  a  half-mile  of  drift  and 
then  the  echoes  of  the  night  were  stirred  by  the 
throbbing  of  the  motor-boat  as  she  sped  down  the 
river. 

Amara  was  safely  passed. 

Eejoicing  came  a  little  too  soon,  however,  for 
scarcely  had  the  launch  gone  a  mile  down-stream, 
when  with  a  suddenness  that  woke  David  with  a 
sudden  start  from  the  half -sleep  in  which  he  was 
holding  the  wheel,  the  bright,  white  glare  of  an 
electric  searchlight  swept  up  and  down  the  river. 

With  one  quick  turn  the  Englishman  silenced 
the  engines  and  said  in  a  hoarse  loud  whisper, 


THE  CHASE  ON  THE  TIGRIS     185 

* '  Hard  over  to  the  left  bank,  boy !     Quick ! ' ' 

It  was  too  late. 

The  searchlight  wavered,  searched  up  and  down 
with  quick  insistent  jerks,  then  caught  the  motor- 
boat  full  in  its  glare. 

A  sharp  command  in  Turkish  rang  out  across 
the  water. 

"Cut  loose!"  cried  the  engineer.  "We're  safe 
only  if  we  can  keep  to  the  channel ! ' ' 

He  threw  on  full  power. 

The  exhaust  of  the  boat  cracked  out  sharply,  as 
the  launch  darted  like  an  arrow  out  of  the  path  of 
the  searchlight. 

For  a  second  David  hoped  that  they  had  es- 
caped, but  the  searchlight  picked  them  out  again 
in  a  moment.  They  could  hear  a  trampling  of 
feet  on  the  deck  of  the  ship,  whose  form  could  not 
be  discerned  because  of  the  blinding  glare. 

The  engineer  chuckled. 

"If  that  were  a  British  gunboat,"  he  said, 
"every  gun  would  have  been  in  action  by  now. 
These  Turks  are  slow!" 

But  they  were  not  too  slow. 

The  words  were  hardly  out  of  his  lips,  when  a 
sudden  heavy  bark  told  of  the  firing  of  a  gun. 

"Funny!"   exclaimed   the   Englishman,    "that 


1 86     WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

sounds  like  a  four-pounder.  The  machine-guns 
ought  to  have  been  ready  first. ' ' 

The  shot  went  far  over  their  heads,  and,  running 
at  racing  speed,  though  all  too  slowly,  the  motor- 
boat  began  to  draw  away. 

Seconds  passed,  though  they  seemed  like  hours, 
and  then  came  the  crackle  of  a  machine-gun.  A 
splash  of  water  fifty  yards  to  the  rear  of  the  boat, 
showed  where  the  bullets  struck. 

The  engineer  set  up  a  sharp  yell,  as  though  in 
agony. 

David's  heart  sank. 

1  'Hit  hard?' 'he  asked. 

The  engineer  grinned. 

1  'Not  a  bit  of  it,"  he  said.  " That's  an  old 
trick.  If  the  other  chap  thinks  you're  hit,  it's 
human  nature  to  hold  fire  for  a  few  seconds. 
Every  second  means  a  better  chance.  They'll  fire 
again,  in  a  little  bit.  Keep  your  head  down." 

The  surmise  proved  correct. 

Almost  simultaneously  the  four-pounder  and 
the  machine-gun  fired  together.  None  of  the 
shots  came  even  close. 

"Kotten  shooting!"  remarked  the  engineer, 
"but  we  needn't  complain  of  that." 

David  made  no  answer. 


THE  CHASE  ON  THE  TIGRIS     187 

Alarmed,  the  engineer  stepped  to  the  stern  and 
looked  at  the  lad,  fearing  a  stray  shot  might  have 
killed  him. 

The  boy  was  fast  asleep.  Even  while  the  shots 
had  been  flying  overhead,  exhausted  nature  could 
stand  no  more.  For  two  days  and  well  into  the 
third  night  he  had  been  in  the  boat,  much  of  the 
time  at  the  wheel.  Even  the  nights  he  had  slept, 
he  had  been  awakened  several  times.  Now,  with- 
out a  word,  without  being  conscious  of  it,  exhaus- 
tion had  taken  him,  and  he  slept. 

"Poor  youngster,"  said  the  engineer,  taking  off 
his  coat  and  covering  the  lad  with  it,  "he's  worn 
right  out." 

He  did  not  stop  to  think  that  he,  himself,  had 
been  awake  almost  continuously,  working  over  the 
engine  of  the  boat. 

The  motor-boat  was  racketing  down  past 
Ezra's  tomb,  one  of  the  sacred  spots  of  the  world 
to  the  Jews,  and  a  spot  like  a  great  green-and- 
yellow  jewel  on  the  ruddy  muddiness  of  the  river 
and  the  waste  of  desert  and  marsh  beyond.  The 
drum  is  decorated  with  slender  spirals  of  yellow 
and  blue  and  red  tiles,  which  end  in  a  broad  band 
of  deep  primrose  yellow;  from  this  springs  the 
dome  in  perfect  curves,  a  blend  of  every  shade 


1 88      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

from  sea-green,  through  lilac,  mauve,  and  blue, 
to  a  deep  purple-green.  Beside  the  Tomb  is 
a  large  khan,  in  a  half -ruined  state,  constructed 
of  yellow  brick,  with  many  arches  and  balconies. 
A  number  of  palms  shade  the  place. 

Thousands  of  Jews  make  an  annual  pilgrimage 
to  the  tomb  of  this  prophet,  who  is  honored  second 
only  to  Moses.  He  was  born  in  Babylon  and  was 
the  author  of  the  Chronicles,  of  Ezra,  of  Nehe- 
miah,  and  of  Esther.  It  was  by  reason  of  his  in- 
fluence that  Xerxes  allowed  the  Jews  to  return 
from  their  captivity. 

Traveling  at  full  speed,  Ezra's  Tomb  was  soon 
left  behind. 

"Can't  you  take  a  nap  now,  sir?"  David  asked, 
when  he  had  stripped  and  taken  a  plunge  over  the 
side  for  a  morning  wash  and  dressed  again. 

The  engineer,  red-eyed,  but  clean-shaven  and 
chirpy  as  ever,  shook  his  head. 

"I  can't  take  my  eye  off  the  engines,"  he  said. 
"They're  running  all  right  now,  but  they  broke 
down  twice  during  the  night  and  I've  had  to 
patch  them  up.  If  I  can  just  scoot  by  Qurnah  and 
Basra,  now,  as  we  have  through  Kut  and  Am- 
ara,  we'll  dine  in  the  officers'  mess  to-morrow 
night." 


THE  CHASE  ON  THE  TIGRIS     189 

1  'Have  we  gasoline  enough  for  that?" 

"No,"  the  engineer  said,  "we  haven't.  But 
I'm  going  to  try  a  little  piracy." 

"How?    Piracy?"  the  boy  queried. 

"You '11  see." 

A  few  hours  more  brought  Qurnah  in  sight. 
Going  at  full  speed,  the  launch  passed  some  of  the 
houses  at  the  brink  of  the  river,  but  to  none  of 
these  was  there  a  motor-boat  fastened. 

"I'm  simply  going  to  commandeer  the  first 
boat  I  see,"  he  said,  "but  it  looks  as  though  we'd 
have  to  pass  the  usual  barrier  of  a  bridge  of  boats 
first." 

A  bend  of  the  river  brought  them  in  full  sight 
of  the  pontoon  bridge  of  boats.  The  motor-boat 
reduced  speed. 

"What  on  earth  is  the  matter?"  queried  the  en- 
gineer, shading  his  eyes  with  his  hand.  "Are  we 
going  to  run  right  into  a  passage  of  troops?  That 
might  be  awkward ! ' ' 

He  slowed  down  further,  but  the  figures  on  the 
bridge  of  boats  did  not  move.  They  seemed  to 
be  halted. 

"Why  not  wait?"  queried  David. 

"I  don't  dare,"  was  the  brief  reply.  "It's 
dead  sure  that  the  Turks  at  Amara  will  have  sent 


190     WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

that  boat  that  fired  at  us  down  the  river  after  us, 
and  I  don't  know  how  close  she  may  be  behind, 
owing  to  our  two  breakdowns  during  the  night. 
They  may  be  round  a  bend  of  the  river  and  almost 
on  us,  for  all  that  we  can  tell.  No,  there 's  nothing 
to  do  but  go  on." 

The  motor-boat  approached  the  bridge  of 
boats. 

"That's  a  company  of  soldiers,"  the  English- 
man said.  "What's  up?" 

The  motor-boat  slowed  down  at  the  pontoons. 

An  officer  stepped  forward. 

"His  Excellency,  the  Administrator  of 
Waters'?"  he  inquired  politely. 

Immovable  as  a  mask,  the  expression  of  the 
Englishman  did  not  change. 

"The  same,"  he  replied.  "And  to  whom  have 
I  the  honor  of  speaking?" 

"I  have  the  unworthy  distinction  of  being  a 
member  of  General  von  Behrein  Pasha's  staff,"  he 
said.  "We  are  in  receipt  of  a  telegram  from  His 
Excellency,  the  Governor  of  Bagdad,  regretting 
your  hasty  departure  without  an  escort." 

"A  telegram?"  queried  the  engineer.  "This 
is  a  mistake,  sir.  There  is  no  telegraph  line  be- 
tween Bagdad  and  Qurnah." 


FORBIDDEN  TO  THE  MUSSULMAN! 

A  Bagdad  centre  of  Western  power.    The  wireless  station  in  communi- 
cation with  Berlin  destroyed  by  the  Germans  upon  the  British 
capture  of  the  city. 


' 


Courtesy  of"  Illustrated  London  News." 

FORBIDDEN  TO  THE  CHRISTIAN! 

A  Bagdad  centre  of  Eastern  power.     The  golden-domed  mosque  of  the 

prophet  Kazimain,  said  to  have  been  poisoned  by 

Haroun-al-llaschid.. 


THE  CHASE  ON  THE  TIGRIS     191 

The  Turkish  officer  smiled. 

"A  courier  brought  the  message  to  Amara," 
was  the  reply,  "and  a  German  Field  Telegraph 
unit,  attached  to  this  army,  ran  a  military  line  yes- 
terday for  communication  between  General  ai.d 
Brigade  Headquarters." 

"Take  me  to  your  commander  at  once,"  said 
the  engineer  stiffly.  "I  will  inquire  into  the  mean- 
ing of  this  detention." 

"I  am  sorry,  Your  Excellency,"  replied  the 
officer,  "but  I  have  orders  to  take  you  to  a  place 
where  you  will  be  kept  under  guard." 

"You  mean  we  are  prisoners?" 

"We  hope  to  have  the  pleasure  of  your  company 
until  the  end  of  the  war,"  was  the  courteous  re- 

piy- 

The  Englishman  looked  at  the  soldiers,  at  the 
bridge  of  boats  and  at  the  river.  David  could 
see  that  he  was  still  meditating  chances  of  es- 
cape. 

There  were  none. 

"At  your  service,  then,"  he  said,  and  he  and 
David  marched  off  into  Turkish  captivity. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  MIRAGE 

THE  English  engineer's  dash  for  liberty  had  not 
succeeded,  owing  to  unforeseen  difficulty  of  a  Ger- 
man Field  Telegraph  Unit  having  run  a  line  south 
from  Amara,  which  had  always  been  an  important 
garrison  point,  but,  on  the  other  hand,  its  very 
boldness  had  resulted  in  a  very  profound  respect 
for  the  fugitives. 

No  one  was  quite  sure  as  to  the  real  importance 
of  the  engineer.  The  Bagdad  Governor's  con- 
fused message  threw  an  element  of  mystery  over 
the  whole  affair.  The  very  fact  that  the  engineer 
declared  himself  to  be  an  Englishman,  when 
England  was  at  war  with  Turkey,  and  such  a 
statement  would  be  self -condemnatory,  was,  to  the 
Oriental  mind,  a  sure  sign  that  he  was  not  Eng- 
lish. Yet  his  flight  down  the  river  was  more  than 
suspicious,  it  was  convicting. 

When  brought  before  the  Turkish  commander 
of  the  forces,  the  engineer  conducted  himself  with 
so  much  dignity  and  so  much  authority  that  the 

192 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  MIRAGE     193 

Pasha  was  puzzled.  Moreover,  the  German  ar- 
tillery commander,  who  was  the  Pasha's  chief 
counselor,  was  utterly  taken  aback  by  some 
allusions  made  by  the  engineer  which  seemed  to 
imply  that  he  was  within  the  secrets  of  the  Ger- 
man High  Command.  Purposely,  the  English- 
man claimed  not  to  know  German,  and  then,  as 
though  absent-mindedly,  snapped  out  a  sonorous 
German  phrase. 

Accordingly,  one  of  the  better  houses  of  Qurnah 
was  set  aside  for  the  fugitives,  and  though  they 
were  kept  rigorously  under  guard  and  not  allowed 
to  leave  the  house  under  any  pretext,  the  imprison- 
ment was  not  wearing.  In  one  way,  it  was  an  ex- 
cellent thing  for  the  boy,  for  the  engineer,  having 
much  time  on  his  hands  and  finding  that  David, 
like  most  American  boys,  knew  very  little  of  any 
mathematics  except  commercial  arithmetic,  spent 
several  hours  a  day  teaching  him  mathematics 
and  the  rudiments  of  irrigation  engineering. 
Greatly  to  his  pleasure,  he  found  David  a  sin- 
gularly quick  and  apt  pupil,  and  the  first  few 
weeks  of  imprisonment  passed  pleasantly  enough. 
Being  November,  it  was  almost  the  only  time  in 
the  year  when  life  in  Mesopotamia  can  be  made 
even  moderately  comfortable. 


194     WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

On  December  4,  while  David  and  the  engineer 
were  working  over  their  mathematics,  the  sharp 
click  of  advancing  feet  was  heard  outside,  the  rug 
which  served  as  a  door  was  lifted  and  a  British 
officer  entered,  his  head  bandaged,  his  arm  in 
a  sling,  and  his  uniform  torn  and  dust-covered. 
But  his  air  was  almost  jaunty. 

"They  told  me  I  should  find  a  compatriot 
here,"  he  said.  "Let  me  introduce  myself — 
Captain  Pomeroy  of  the  2nd  Norfolks. ' ' 

"And  my  name  is  Testahen,"  said  the  engineer, 
rising  and  shaking  hands. 

"Not  Sir  James  Testahen,  of  the  Assouan 
dam?" 

The  engineer  nodded. 

"Why,  this  is  tophole!"  the  officer  declared. 
"I'm  ever  so  glad  to  meet  you,  Sir  James.  I 
knew  you  were  somewhere  in  the  country,  but  I 
didn't  know  just  where." 

"I'm  just  here,"  the  engineer  declared,  with 
emphasis,  "for  a  time  at  least."  Then  turning 
to  the  lad,  he  added,  "and  this  is  Professor 
Surch's  son,  David." 

They  shook  hands  also. 

"David  joined  me  in  an  attempt  to  run  the 
gauntlet  down  to  Abadan,  or  at  least  as  far  as 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  MIRAGE     195 

Basra,"  the  engineer  explained,  "but  the  Ger- 
mans had  run  a  field  telegraph  line  down  from 
Amara,  and  so  they  nabbed  us  here." 

"Sorry  on  your  account,  but  I  can't  say  I  am 
on  my  own,"  the  captain  answered.  "It's  much 
pleasanter  to  be  together.  Not  that  I  think  we'll 
be  here  very  long,"  he  added. 

"Why  not?" 

"Our  chaps  will  take  Qurnah  in  a  week." 

"You  think  so?" 

"Sure  of  it.  If  Colonel  Frazier  hadn't  thought 
it  wiser  not  to  take  too  risky  a  chance,  we  might 
have  got  in  here  yesterday." 

"Just  what  has  been  happening?"  the  engineer 
asked.  "You  see,  Captain  Pomeroy,  I've  been 
up  at  Hit  all  this  time  and  very  little  news  filtered 
through.  I  know  nothing  later  than  that  the  Sul- 
tan had  declared  a  Jehad.  I  see  you're  wounded, 
so  there  has  already  been  some  fighting." 

"Yes,"  the  captain  replied,  "there's  been  a 
little  trouble,  but  I  think  we've  done  fairly  well 
so  far.  You  heard,  I  suppose,  that  in  October, 
an  advance  force  consisting  of  a  couple  of  Eng- 
lish and  some  Indian  regiments  were  sent  from 
India  to  stand  guard  at  the  mouth  of  the  Shatt- 
el-Arab." 


196      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

"That  I  knew,"  the  engineer  answered,  "and 
that,  quite  naturally,  they  anchored  in  the  pearl- 
fishing  harbor  of  Bahrein  under  the  Sheik  of 
Koweit." 

David  nodded.  He,  too,  knew  all  about  Eng- 
land's alliance  with  the  Sheik  of  Koweit  because 
of  the  pearl  fishery  and  piracy  and  felt  quite 
proud  of  himself  that  he  was  able  to  follow  the 
allusion. 

"We  stayed  there  until  November  2,  when  we 
g"ot  official  word  that  war  had  been  declared  be- 
tween England  and  Turkey  and  that  our  first 
move  was  to  collar  Fao.  We  didn  't  waste  a  great 
deal  of  time,  but,  without  waiting  for  reenforce- 
ments,  just  got  right  at  it.  The  gunboat  Odin 
opened  the  ball  with  a  quick  but  altogether  satis- 
factory bombardment.  Then,  while  the  lead  was 
still  being  pumped  over,  our  fellows  went  in  under 
the  cover  of  it.  We  sent  three  landing-parties 
ashore,  each  of  them  wildly  envious  of  the  other. 
In  fact,  not  a  few  wagers  were  laid  as  to  which 
should  get  into  Fao  first." 

"Was  that  where  you  got  hurt,  sir?"  queried 
David,  who  was  anxious  to  hear  some  details  of 
real  fighting. 

"No,  my  boy,"  answered  the  captain,  "I'll  tell 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  MIRAGE     197 

you  about  that  when  I  come  to  it,  that's  if  you 
want  to  hear  the  yarn?" 

And,  without  waiting  for  a  reply  he  turned  to 
the  engineer  and  continued: 

"I  don't  think  the  Turks  were  jolly  well  ex- 
pecting us  so  quickly,  because  they  set  about  the 
defense  in  quite  a  leisurely  fashion.  The  Indian 
troops  rushed  ahead  like  furies,  and  the  enemy 
seemed  disconcerted.  The  Turks  hadn't  got  used 
to  the  idea  that  fighting  had  really  begun  and  this 
was  the  first  brush.  They  gave  way  almost  at 
once  and  our  chaps  took  the  town. 

"As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  enemy  got  away  in 
such  a  hurry  that  some  of  the  guns  were  left 
loaded  and  ready  for  firing,  none  of  them  were 
dismantled  and  all  sorts  of  valuables  that  could 
have  been  packed  up  in  an  hour  were  left. 
Friendly  Arabs,  however,  told  us  that  the  Turks 
had  not  retreated  in  panic,  but  had  merely  hurried 
to  join  the  Basra  garrison  already  on  its  way 
down  the  river  to  attack  Abadan. ' ' 

"That's  the  oil  center,  isn't  it?"  queried  the 
boy.  The  captain  nodded  and  went  on, 

"This  meant  that  hours  were  precious  and  we 
started  up  the  river  to  Abadan.  We  got  there 
the  evening  of  the  next  day,  just  a  few  hours 


198      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

ahead  of  the  Turks.  Of  course  we  pushed  a  line 
ahead  of  the  island,  to  keep  the  Turks  from  shell- 
ing it.  There's  nothing  much  at  Abadan  except 
the  oil  tanks,  and  a  few  incendiary  fires  there 
would  have  blown  or  burnt  the  place  up. 

"As  a  matter  of  fact,  one  shell  did  land  in 
Abadan,  but  it  fell  where  it  couldn't  do  any  par- 
ticular harm.  It  was  a  narrow  shave,  though. 
If  the  enemy  had  only  hustled  a  little  from  Basra, 
or  started  a  day  earlier,  they  could  easily  have 
taken  Abadan,  and  even  if  they  couldn't  have  held 
it,  half  an  hour  would  have  been  enough  for  them 
to  set  fire  to  the  refineries,  to  blow  up  the  oil  tanks 
and  to  destroy  the  pipe-line  into  Arabistan.  But 
that  few  hours  by  which  we  beat  them  to  it,  saved 
the  loss  of  thousands  of  pounds '  worth  of  fuel  and 
maybe  some  scores  of  lives,  for  we  should  have 
had  to  take  the  island,  anyway,  and  it  would  have 
been  quite  a  job  if  the  Turks  had  posted  guns 
on  it." 

"Of  course,"  the  engineer  agreed,  "but  it 
would  be  hard  to  hold  Abadan  by  itself.  You'll 
have  to  take  Basra,  before  any  kind  of  a  foothold 
is  sure." 

"Basra!"    explained   the    officer   in   surprise. 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  MIRAGE     199 

" Didn't  you  know!  Why,  we  took  Basra  ten 
days  ago!" 

"Then  if  we  had  just  passed  this  one  bridge  of 
boats  at  Qurnah,  we'd  have  run  right  down  to 
you?" 

"Bather!  You  wouldn't  have  had  to  go  more 
than  two  miles  downstream  to  run  right  into  the 
hands  of  English  outposts." 

"And  we  had  enough  gasoline  for  that!"  ex- 
claimed the  engineer.  "But  I  couldn't  send  the 
launch  against  that  bridge  of  boats  like  a  batter- 
ing ram!" 

"And  if  we  had,"  remarked  David,  "we'd  have 
been  filled  full  of  holes.  Those  soldiers  on  the 
bridge  had  modern  rifles,  every  one  of  them.  I 
noticed  it,  because  I  supposed  the  Turks  wouldn't 
amount  to  anything  as  soldiers." 

The  captain  shook  his  head. 

"Don't  think  that,  my  boy,"  he  said,  "the  Turk 
is  one  of  the  best  fighting  men  in  the  world  when 
he 's  roused.  That 's  why  we  want  to  win  as  much 
of  these  river  banks  as  quickly  as  we  can,  before 
he  does  get  waked  up." 

"Yes,"  said  the  engineer,  "you're  right,  there. 
It 's  easy  enough  to  talk  about  Turkey,  politically, 


200      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

as  the  'Sick  Man  of  Europe,'  but  we  oughtn't  to 
forget  that  Turkey  has  been  master  of  a  big  em- 
pire and  has  held  it  in  control  for  a  good  many 
centuries.  It  takes  military  ability  to  do  that, 
look  at  it  how  you  will.  But  you  must  have  had 
some  trouble  taking  Basra,  I  should  think.  The 
garrison  there  was  nearly  ten  thousand,  wasn't 
it?" 

"Fifteen  thousand,  easy,"  was  the  reply, 
"counting  in  the  reinforcements  that  were  sent 
down.  But  it  wasn't  such  a  difficult  bit  o'  work, 
not  nearly  so  hard  as  we  expected.  That  is  the 
actual  fighting  wasn't,  but  the  way  it  had  to  be 
done  was  hard  enough. ' ' 

"Do  you  mind  telling  us  about  it?"  the  en- 
gineer asked. 

"All  right,"  the  captain  answered.  "Don't 
mind  if  I  give  just  a  straight-ahead  story  of  it. 
I'm  not  like  one  of  these  newspaper  chaps,  you 
know,  all  I  can  tell  is  just  what  I  saw  and  what 
the  other  fellows  told  me. 

"As  soon  as  we  had  taken  Abadan,  and  set  a 
garrison  there,  General  Delamain  sent  a  strong 
force  ashore  at  Saniyeh,  on  the  Turkish  side  of 
the  river,  and  we  dug  in.  We  didn  't  see  any  very 
special  need  for  hurry,  for  that  country  all  around 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  MIRAGE     201 

there  just  looks  like  the  jumping-off  spot  to  no- 
where, but  we  were  glad  of  the  trenches  next  day. 
One  of  the  Koweit  Arabs  came  down  and  told  us 
that  a  force  had  been  on  the  way  from  Bagdad 
for  over  a  month  and  had  almost  reached  Basra. 

"You  see,  the  Germans  had  known  in  advance 
that  they  were  going  to  force  Turkey's  hand  to 
declare  war,  and  so  they  started  that  force  from 
Bagdad  at  the  end  of  September." 

"Why  do  you  suppose  they  sent  them  so  late, 
sir?"  David  asked.  "Didn't  -the  war  start  in 
August?" 

"You'll  have  to  ask  Sir  James  about  that,  my 
boy,"  said  the  captain,  "we  military  men  don't 
know  much  about  the  political  end  of  things. 
But  I  did  wonder  about  that  myself.  What  do 
you  think  it  was  ? "  he  queried,  turning  to  the  en- 
gineer. 

The  latter  lit  a  cigar  which  he  had  gratefully 
accepted  from  Captain  Pomeroy. 

"I  don't  think  there's  much  difficulty  in  seeing 
that  move,"  he  answered.  "I  don't  think  Germany 
wanted  to  draw  Turkey  into  the  war  at  all." 

"Why  not?"  interrupted  the  captain.  "I 
should  have  thought  she  wanted  all  the  allies  she 
could  get." 


202      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

"No,"  the  engineer  replied,  "on  the  contrary, 
Germany  wanted  to  win  with  the  fewest  alliances 
possible.  There  were  a  great  many  reasons  why 
a  German  victory  without  the  aid  of  Turkey  would 
have  been  better  for  her  than  a  victory  with  the 
aid  of  the  Ottoman  Empire. 

"The  first,  and  most  important  result  of  a  vic- 
torious Germany  would  have  been  prestige.  Sec- 
ondly, if  she  had  conquered  in  France  and  Russia 
without  Turkish  aid,  she  would  not  have  to  con- 
sider the  necessity  of  handing  over  part  of  the 
spoils  of  war  to  a  Turkish  ally.  Then  the  still 
untapped  resources  of  Turkey  would  have  been 
available  for  an  assault  on  the  British  positions  in 
Egypt  and  India,  and  the  Holy  War  might  have 
become  a  real  thing.  Therefore  to  have  em- 
broiled Turkey  at  the  beginning  of  the  war  would 
have  been  an  unwise  move." 

"What  changed  that  idea,  then!"  queried  the 
captain. 

"The  opening  of  the  war,"  was  the  reply. 
"When  the  gallant  defense  of  the  Belgians  at 
Liege  stopped  the  German  impetus;  when  the 
French  at  Charleroi  and  the  English  at  Mons  held 
back  more  than  five  times  their  number  by  sheer 
bravery;  when  the  heroic  French  at  the  Battle  of 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  MIRAGE     203 

the  Marne  won  such  a  splendid  victory  that  they 
made  all  humanity  their  eternal  debtor,  and  when 
the  English  Navy  held  the  Seven  Seas,  then  Ger- 
many realized  that  she  must  abandon  all  her  hopes 
of  winning  a  victory  by  herself. 

"She  realized,  then,  that  she  must  not  only  call 
on  her  allies  to  help  in  her  plans  of  victory,  but 
even  to  help  save  her  from  defeat.  It  was  be- 
cause of  that,  I  think,  that  the  Bagdad  garrison 
did  not  begin  to  move  south  until  the  end  of  Sep- 
tember, and  to  move  a  marching  force  from  Bag- 
dad to  Bas:a,  over  five  hundred  miles  by  river, 
and  probably  four  hundred  by  land,  is  at  least  a 
month's  task,  especially  with  the  wretched  water 
transportation  they  possessed  on  the  Tigris." 

"That  seems  reasonable,"  the  captain  agreed. 

"Moreover,"  the  engineer  continued,  "there 
was  the  question  of  munitions.  Turkey  had  pur- 
chased from  Germany  and  Austria  eight  million 
marks'  worth  of  equipment.  Her  artillery  was 
in  perfect  condition.  But  the  first  weeks  of  the 
war  in  France  had  shown  that  all  former  estimates 
as  to  the  number  of  shells  required  per  gun  were 
far  too  low.  No  one  had  dreamed  that  modern 
guns  would  require  such  an  appalling  quantity  of 
shell.  Therefore,  in  order  to  make  the  Turkish 


204      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

artillery  effective,  Germany  had  to  send  muni- 
tions and  shells  which  she  could  ill  spare  from 
the  western  front. 

"The  second  question  was  that  of  transport. 
The  German  drive  for  Paris  had  created  a  tre- 
mendously long  line  of  communications,  and  Ger- 
many was  hard  put  to  it  to  keep  her  troops  on 
the  Russian  front  and  on  the  French  front  sup- 
plied with  all  the  necessaries  of  war.  To  devote 
locomotives  and  rolling-stock  to  the  long  haul  to 
Constantinople  and  thence  by  the  Anatolian  Kail- 
way  was  not  only  costly  but  delaying.  Even  with 
perfect  service,  to  send  a  car  of  munitions  from 
Skoda  to  Bagdad  is  a  long,  long  travel. 

' '  The  third  most  serious  problem  was  that  if  the 
Turkish  Army  had  to  be  taken  to  the  battle-front 
in  full  strength  it  would  weaken  the  garrisons,  and 
the  Turkish  empire  is  not  held  together  by  any 
inner  bond  but  solely  by  Turkish  military  domi- 
nation. The  mobilization  of  the  army,  therefore, 
meant  Kurdish  revolts,  Armenian  revolts,  and 
Arab  revolts.  Moreover,  since  the  Turkish  em- 
pire is  almost  exclusively  agricultural,  every 
added  soldier  meant  more  land  uncultivated  or 
more  herds  untended,  and  the  German  need  for 
food  was  great.  When  Germany  forced  Turkey 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  MIRAGE     205 

into  the  war,  it  was  a  confession  of  weakness  far 
more  definite  than  most  of  us  have  yet  realized." 

"I  hope  so,"  the  captain  replied,  " though  I 
think  we  '11  have  trouble  enough  yet.  And,  as  you 
say,  Sir  James,  the  fact  that  the  force  sent  to  re- 
enforce  Basra  did  not  start  until  late  in  September 
just  gave  us  time  to  establish  the  entrenched  camp 
at  Saniyeh  before  the  Turks  reached  us. 

"On  November  11,  the  Turks  sent  out  a  re- 
connoissance  party  to  test  our  strength.  Natu- 
rally, we  didn't  want  them  to  know  too  much,  so 
we  sent  out  a  couple  of  Indian  regiments,  and 
beat  them  back  in  a  short,  sharp  skirmish  with 
small  losses  on  both  sides. 

"This  was  an  indecisive  sort  of  affair,  not  big 
enough  to  let  either  side  know  the  other's 
strength.  Two  days  later,  though,  two  more 
brigades  sailed  up  the  Shatt-el-Arab,  completing 
the  Sixth  Division. 

"During  these  two  days  the  advance  force  of 
the  Turks  had  dug  in  at  Sahain,  just  about  ten 
miles  up  river  from  our  camp  rt  Saniyeh.  We 
had  no  aeroplanes  at  all,  not  one,  so  there  was  no 
way  for  us  to  find  out  the  strength  of  the  enemy. 
In  this  pancake-flat  country,  you  can't  send  out 
cavalry  unperceived.  There's  nothing  but  the 


old  wasteful  tactics  of  sending  your  men  forward 
to  feel  the  strength  of  the  enemy  in  a  fight." 

"Please,  I  don't  understand,"  put  in  David. 
1 '  Does  that  mean  that  you  have  to  have  men  killed 
off  just  as  a  sort  of  scout  and  to  judge  by  the 
quickness  with  which  they  are  killed  off,  how 
strong  the  enemy  is?" 

"That's  rather  a  crude  way  of  putting  it, 
David,"  the  captain  answered,  "but  you're  not 
far  out.  Aeroplane  reconnoissance  now,  how- 
ever, saves  all  these  lives."  And  he  continued, 

"Since  reinforcements  had  arrived,  the  Poona 
Brigade,  which  was  the  first  one  that  had  landed, 
could  be  sent  forward  at  once.  The  men  were 
tired,  of  course,  but  they  might  as  well  take  the 
first  blow  and,  if  they  had  to  fall  back,  the  other 
two  fresh  brigades  would  be  ready  to  support. 
So,  without  waiting  for  the  reinforcements  to  dis- 
embark, the  Poona  Brigade  was  sent  forward. 

"Now,  you  know,  when  you  look  on  the  lower 
part  of  the  Shatt-el-Arab  from  the  decks  of  a 
river-boat,  the  scenery  looks  most  attractive.  On 
both  shores,  right  down  to  the  water's  edge,  are 
graceful  date-palms,  vines  trailing  from  tree  to 
tree,  scarlet  pomegranate  in  the  undergrowth  and 
white  clusters  of  oleander  over  the  water's  edge. 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  MIRAGE     207 

Then  behind,  here  and  there,  can  be  seen  fields  of 
grain. ' ' 

"Yes,"  the  engineer  remarked,  "that's  the  part 
that  used  to  be  thought  the  Garden  of  Eden. 
That's  where  the  Sumerians  located  it,  you  know, 
and  that  has  always  mixed  people's  ideas  up. 
The  Garden  of  Eden  of  the  Bible  is  above  Hit; 
the  Garden  of  Eden  of  the  Babylonian  tablets  is 
down  where  you  were  on  the  Shatt-el-Arab.  But 
go  on  with  your  story. ' ' 

"As  I  was  saying,"  the  captain  continued, 
"from  the  river  side,  the  shore  looks  like  the 
Garden  of  Eden.  But  once  you're  ashore,  it's  a 
lot  different.  The  palms  and  the  pomegranate 
blossoms  are  there  sure  enough,  but  the  belt  of 
them  doesn't  average  half  a  mile  wide,  and  be- 
yond it  is  the  desert,  while  every  now  and  then  a 
very  slight  dip  of  a  few  feet  reduces  the  appar- 
ently dry  frontage  to  a  .swamp  covered  with  green 
scum  and  festering  vegetation,  with  a  variety  of 
smells  not  to  be  matched  in  any  part  of  the  world 
I've  been  in,  so  far." 

"And  this  is  November,"  remarked  the  en- 
gineer, "the  one  lovely  month  in  the  Mesopo- 
tamian  year.  Captain  Pomeroy,  wait  until  you  Ve 
seen  the  seasons  round !  But  I  interrupt. 


5  5 


208      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

"It  was  bad  enough  taking  Sahain,"  the  captain 
resumed,  " because  the  footing  wasn't  so  bad. 
We  drove  the  Turks  back  without  much  loss, 
rather  wondering,  indeed,  that  they  gave  way  so 
easily.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  they  had  only  re- 
tire'd  upon  Sahil,  where  the  main  strength  of  the 
advance  force  had  entrenched. 

"This  meant  a  real  fight,  and  the  whole  divi- 
sion moved  forward  to  attack.  It  was  nasty  fight- 
ing, regular  guerrilla  warfare.  The  Turks  fought 
from  behind  the  boles  of  palm-trees,  from  the 
banks  of  canals  and  from  specially  prepared  dug- 
outs, patterned  after  the  German  fashion.  One 
of  the  things  which  hurt  us  most  was  that  the 
German  officers  had  told  the  Turks  that  we 
tortured  the  wounded,  and  so  many  of  our  poor 
fellows  were  shot  when  they  were  going  to  help 
the  enemy  wounded  into  ambulances. 

1  'After  we  had  broken  back  all  the  advance 
guard,  we  came  to  the  main  camp.  The  Turks 
had  entrenched  in  front  of  an  open  plain,  their 
left  on  the  river,  their  right  covered  by  groves 
of  date-palm.  As  we  were  working  with  naval 
and  military  forces  combined,  it  was  decided  to 
attack  the  enemy's  left,  near  the  river,  rather  than 
to  try  to  flank  his  right,  which  would  have  been 


a  less  costly  maneuver.  As  it  was,  we  had  to 
dash  across  that  open  plain,  without  enough 
shelter  to  make  a  match-box  of,  while,  at  the  same 
time,  our  gunboats  went  up  the  river,  in  spite  of 
artillery  fire,  and  enfiladed  the  hostile  trenches 
from  the  stream. 

"Our  chaps  were  just  splendid.  The  two  or 
three  days  of  guerrilla  fighting  had  put  their 
blood  up,  and  now  that  they  .had  a  chance  for  open 
fighting,  they  just  ate  it  up !  The  way  those  In- 
dian troops  went  over  that  plain  was  a  caution! 
The  Turks  didn't  even  wait  for  the  shock.  Al- 
though they  were  in  superior  numbers,  on  finding 
that  their  artillery  could  not  stop  the  advancing 
wave  of  men,  they  broke  and  fled.  If  they  had 
held  their  ground  long  enough  to  get  actually  into 
the  fighting,  we  wouldn't  have  found  it  easy,  for 
the  Turk  is  a  gamy  fighter  once  he  begins,  though 
apt  to  give  way  before  a  battle.  Our  losses  would 
have  been  heavy  then,  but,  as  it  was,  we  lost  only 
thirty-eight  men.  The  Turks  suffered  heavily, 
for  we  had  a  couple  of  field-gun  batteries  that  did 
good  work  in  the  pursuit,  and  thoroughly  disor- 
ganized the  fleeing  army. 

"This  was  too  good  a  start  to  lose  and  we 
pushed  on  as  hard  as  we  could.  Part  of  the 


210     WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

troops  were  transported  on  a  couple  of  river 
steamers  and  others  proceeded  by  forced  marches 
up  the  river,  the  gunboats  leading  the  way,  and 
shelling  the  fugitives  in  a  way  that  must  have 
tried  their  nerves  sorely. 

"A  few  miles  below  Basra,  three  steamers  had 
been  blown  up  in  the  channel  in  order  to  prevent 
our  boats  going  up.  A  battery  of  Turkish  guns 
was  posted  so  as  to  cover  the  obstruction  and  the 
Turks  seemed  to  think  that  would  hold  us  back 
a  week  or  more. 

1  'Time  was  more  important  than  caution  just 
then,  so  we  slapped  right  ahead,  the  Indian  troops 
just  enjoying  themselves.  We  sent  a  couple  of 
detachments  ashore  to  rush  the  guns,  while  our 
gunboats  sent  some  four-inch  shrapnel  among 
the  gunners.  Nasty  stuff,  that  four-inch  shrap- 
nel, especially  on  these  flat  plains  where  it's  as 
easy  to  hit  a  hostile  battery  in  action  as  it  is  to 
register  bull's-eyes  on  a  target  in  gun-practice, 
and,  as  the  Arabs  put  it,  the  Turks  speedily  be- 
took themselves  Ho  the  midst  of  the  Heavens,' 
or,  in  other  words,  they  bolted. ' ' 

"Not  that  I  blame  them  much,"  commented  the 
engineer,  in  a  low  voice  so  as  not  to  interrupt  the 
narration. 


\ 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  MIRAGE     211 

"Then  the  gunboats  edged  up  and  poked  at  the 
outermost  of  the  three  sunken  ships  with  their 
noses,  gently  shoving  her  stern  around  until  she 
lay  lengthwise  in  the  stream.  The  Tigris  did  the 
rest.  Within  a  couple  of  hours  the  current, 
sweeping  around  the  sunken  ship,  made  a  new 
channel  and  the  gunboats  and  steamers  edged 
carefully  by. 

"It  all  seemed  rather  queer  to  me.  We  were 
working  in  an  abominable  country,  a  long  way 
from  any  base  of  supplies,  against  forces  about 
four  times  our  own  in  number,  and  yet  we  went 
ahead  with  hardly  any  trouble.  The  last  twenty- 
eight  miles  to  Basra  we  did  in  a  day — I  grumbled 
at  that  myself,  for  it  was  killing  to  the  men — 
but  we  got  in  there  absolutely  without  hearing  a 
single  shot  fired.  The  Turks  had  got  out  the  day 
before  and  the  Arabs,  of  course,  were  looting  the 
city  for  all  it  was  worth.  We  jolly  soon  stopped 
that  sort  of  thing,  though.  So  that's  how  we  got 
into  Basra. 

"Rotten  sort  of  a  place,  Basra,"  he  continued. 
"Ever  been  there,  Sir  James?" 

"No,"  the  engineer  replied,  "I  came  into  Meso- 
potamia from  the  Damascus  side.  What 's  Basra 
like?" 


212      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

"A  hole!"  was  the  frank  reply.  "The  real 
town,  the  Arab  town,  that  is,  lies  about  two  miles 
from  the  river,  in  a  palm  grove,  bordered  by  the 
desert.  There's  a  sort  of  half -river,  half-ditch, 
the  Ashar,  which  runs  up  from  the  Shatt-el-Arab 
to  the  town.  From  it  a  couple  of  hundred  irriga- 
tion ditches  spread  off  to  right  and  left  and 
wander  among  the  date-palms.  When  the  ten- 
foot  tide  comes  up  the  Shatt-el-Arab  from  the 
Persian  Gulf,  it  fills  the  Ashar  and  all  the  ditches, 
and  then  the  creeks,  or  streets,  whichever  you  like 
to  call  them,  are  gay  with  little  belums.  When 
the  tide  goes  out,  the  main  creek  and  all  the 
ditches  are  nothing  but  fetid  mud.  The  town  is 
a  typical  Arab  town,  mud-built,  with  here  and 
there  a  shabby,  cheaply-decorated  mosque.  The 
larger  streets  and  bazaars  are  roofed  over  with 
date-leaf  matting  and  the  sun's  rays  only  trickle 
through.  It's  hotter  than  an  oven  and  I  never 
knew  that  there  could  be  so  many  smells  at  a  time 
in  one  place." 

"And  this  is  November,"  reminded  the  en- 
gineer, "wait  until  summer  comes,  Captain! 
How  about  it,  David  ? ' ' 

"Yes,  sir,"  the  boy  agreed,  "it  feels  about 
forty  times  hotter  than  now. ' ' 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  MIRAGE     213 

' 'Let's  hope  the  war's  over  by  then,"  the  of- 
ficer replied. 

"It  won't  be,"  the  engineer  answered,  "but 
don't  let's  get  into  prophecy.  You  haven't  told 
us,  yet,  how  you  came  to  be  taken  prisoner. ' ' 

"Oh,  that!" 

David  noted  -the  characteristic  English  distaste 
for  talking  about  oneself,  but  the  engineer  pressed 
for  the  story. 

"You  see,  Captain,"  he  said,  "after  all,  it's 
quite  important  that  I  should  be  informed  on 
what's  been  going  on  and  your  telling  me  will 
save  General  Barrett  some  trouble." 

Which  simple  remark  gave  David  an  inkling  of 
the  importance  of  his  comrade,  though  he  little 
guessed  what  a  dominant  personality  in  the  East 
was  this  same  irrigation  engineer. 

"Well,  Sir  James,"  the  captain  continued,  re- 
suming his  story,  "after  we  got  to  Basra,  we 
thought  we  were  through.  The  wharf  that  the 
Germans  had  built  for  use  in  the  continuation  of 
the  Berlin-to-Bagdad  Railway  was  quite  useful, 
but  we  supposed  that  our  principal  work  was 
done.  I  really  don't  think  any  of  us  imagined 
that  England  intended  to  do  any  more  than  hold 
the  Shatt-el-Arab  from  Basra  down,  so  as  to  pro- 


214      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

tect  the  mouth  of  the  Zarun  River,  down  which  the 
pipe-line  comes  from  Persia,  and  to  make  sure 
against  th^  possibility  of  any  raids  on  the  oil 
center  of  Abadan. 

"But  no  sooner  had  we  settled  at  Basra,  begun 
to  build  a  permanent  camp  on  the  river  edge,  and 
make  a  solid  two-mile  road  to  Old  Basra  than  we 
learned  that  the  Turks,  under  German  direction, 
were  contemplating  a  combined  attack  on  us. 
Their  army,  we  learned,  was  in  three  sections. 
The  largest  is  here  at  Qurnah,  under  Subhi  Bey, 
and  our  information  states  that  this  force  con- 
tains about  40,000  men.  Then  there  is  a  less  well 
organized  but  even  larger  army  now  being  formed 
under  Suleiman  Askeri,  preparing  for  a  descent 
on  Basra  by  the  route  of  the  old  fortress  of 
Shaiba  on  the  Euphrates.  The  third  group  is 
over  on  the  river  Qarun,  threatening  the  pipe-line 
and  acting  as  a  flank  attack  to  Abadan.  Including 
hostile  Arabs,  there  are  about  140,000  men  gath- 
ered for  the  attack.  We've  got  about  60,000. 

"We  didn't  know  of  any  more  reinforcements 
actually  on  their  way  to  us,  although  informed 
that  more  would  be  sent  later,  but  General  Barrett 
decided  that  we  should  take  the  initiative  just  the 
same.  We  already  had  a  small  force  at  Shaiba. 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  MIRAGE     215 

So,  being  afraid  that  they  might  be  attacked  in 
force  and  defeated — a  thing  which  would  be  very 
dangerous,  for  the  Turks  would  exaggerate  the 
skirmish  into  an  immense  victory  and  the  result- 
ing loss  of  prestige  would  make  things  all  the 
harder  for  us  among  the  Arabs — the  first  move 
we  made  was  to  send  reinforcements  to  Shaiba. 

"At  that  time  we  supposed  that  the  enemy  op- 
posing our  little  garrison  was  only  a  small  body. 
We  hadn  't  the  faintest  idea  that  it  was  the  largest 
of  the  three  Turkish  armies.  That's  where  we 
needed  aeroplane  reconnoissance  in  the  worst 
way. 

1 '  Just  four  days  ago,  the  Turks  came  down  and 
launched  a  surprise  attack  on  the  little  garrison 
holding  Shaiba.  Although  we  had  no  knowledge 
that  this  was  the  day  the  enemy  had  set  for  the 
attack,  it  chanced  that  on  that  very  day  we  had 
started  a  small  body  of  reinforcements.  They 
were  but  a  few  miles  on  their  way  when  there 
came  the  sound  of  firing,  sure  evidence  of  a  sur- 
prise attack.  The  reenforcing  column  advanced 
at  the  double,  and  an  aide  galloped  back  with  news 
to  the  Commanding  Officer. 

"The  shortest  way  to  the  attacked  garrison  was 
across  a  great  area  to  the  westward  of  Basra,  held 


2i6      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

back  by  the  Shaiba  Bund  embankment.  This  was 
flooded  waist-deep. 

" While  a  mad  rush  was  made  for  every  belum 
and  every  kind  of  boat  that  would  hold  water,  in 
order  to  cross  this  flooded  area,  most  of  the  men 
plunged  through  it,  holding  their  rifles  over  their 
heads  and  exposed  to  a  distant  but  galling  fire. 
Many  a  wounded  man  dropped  in  the  water  and 
was  drowned.  At  one  place  the  water  was  so  high 
that  it  came  to  the  armpits  of  the  men.  But  they 
plunged  through,  notwithstanding,  and  came  to 
the  scene  of  battle. 

"The  first  relieving  force,  which  had  marched 
round  on  the  desert,  had  been  pinned  back  by  a 
larger  force  of  the  enemy.  They  had  not  been 
able  to  reach  the  garrison  at  Shaiba,  which,  itself, 
was  surrounded  by  a  force  of  Turks  at  least  ten 
times  as  great  in  number.  The  pressure  on  the 
garrison  was  relieved  by  the  arrival  of  the  men 
who  had  been  plunging  across  the  shallow  lake. 

"The  battle  lasted  for  several  hours.  I  hate 
to  say  it,  Sir  James,  but  our  men  were  beaten.  In 
that  open  flat  land,  with  no  chance  to  dig  trenches 
at  all,  rule  and  machine-gun  fire  worked  terrible 
havoc  and  men  fell  heavily  on  both  sides.  In  a 
costly  figjit  such  as  this,  numbers  become  the  de- 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  MIRAGE     217 

ciding  factor,  and,  even  after  the  reinforcements 
arrived,  we  were  outnumbered  at  least  seven  to 
one. 

"The  Commanding  Officer  was  just  about  to 
give  the  order  to  retire — he  told  me,  afterwards, 
that  the  order  had  been  trembling  on  his  lips  for 
ten  minutes  or  more — when  to  the  absolute  and 
unbounded  amazement  of  us  all,  the  Turks,  at  the 
very  second  of  their  victory,  turned  tail  and  ran. 

1  'It  was  inexplicable.  It  was  disconcerting. 
Nothing  ever  looked  more  like  a  trick.  But  the 
effect  of  machine-guns  on  a  retreating  enemy  is 
well  known  and  our  chaps  dashed  in  pursuit.  We 
were  still  wondering  what  was  the  cause  of  it, 
when  one  of  the  officers  of  an  Indian  regiment 
solved  the  problem. 

1 '  '  Mirage ! '  he  cried,  pointing  behind  us. 

'  *  There,  to  our  rear,  were  vast  billowing  clouds 
of  dust.  Through  the  dust,  clearly,  as  clearly  as 
I  can  see  you  both  now,  could  be  distinguished 
great  columns  and  bodies  of  men,  supply  wagons 
and  even  pieces  of  artillery,  or  so  it  seemed. 
Eank  beyond  rank,  serried  line  behind  serried 
line,  these  columns  advanced.  Yet  we  know  that 
no  such  army  existed  in  Mesopotamia. 

"It  was  our  pitifully  small  supply-train,  which 


218      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

had  driven  round  by  the  edge  of  the  desert,  since 
the  wheels  would  sink  in  the  sand  and  mud  of  the 
flooded  area,  and  which,  by  a  queer  freak  of 
mirage,  had  been  repeated  in  strata  after  strata  of 
air  until  it  looked  like  an  army  of  a  million  men 
advancing  to  the  front." 

"No  wonder  they  ran !"  said  David. 

"No,"  agreed  the  captain,  "yet  I  should  think 
the  Turkish  officers  ought  to  have  known  natural 
phenomena  better.  After  all,  it's  their  country." 

The  engineer  shook  his  head. 

"It  isn't,"  he  said.  "This  is  the  country  of 
the  Arab,  not  the  Turk.  The  Turk  is  primarily  a 
mountain  dweller  and  pays  little  heed  to  the  lands 
under  his  dominion  except  as  a  means  of  squeez- 
ing taxes  out  of  them.  Our  men,  trained  in  India, 
know  far  more  about  it.  But,"  he  continued, 
"you  couldn't  afford  to  pursue  the  Turks  very 
far  up  the  Euphrates  Valley." 

"No,"  agreed  the  captain,  "we  couldn't,  be- 
cause that  would  give  the  enemy  a  chance  to  cut 
us  off  from  the  main  body.  Besides,  Basra 
was  much  too  rich  a  prize  to  risk.  You  see,  Sir 
James,  Basra  boasts  20,000  inhabitants  and  there 
are  11,000,000  date-palms  in  its  plantations.  It 
was  a  rich  haul  and  the  Turks  would  naturally  be 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  MIRAGE     219 

anxious  to  take  it  back.  That  was  one  reason 
why  we  can't  be  satisfied  with  holding  it  as  an  ad- 
vance post.  We  have  got  to  take  Qurnah,  in  order 
to  be  safe  to  develop  Basra  as  a  military  base. 
But  it'll  have  to  be  done  quickly,  if  at  all.  I'm 
confident,  though,  that  we  '11  take  this  place  within 
a  week." 

"I  hope  we  do,"  agreed  the  engineer,  " though, 
even  if  the  troops  do  take  it,  the  Turks  are  likely 
to  send  us  back  up  the  river. ' ' 

"  Perhaps  the  governor  of  Bagdad  might  like 
to  see  you  again,  sir, ' '  suggested  David,  laughing. 

"What  was  that?"  asked  the  captain,  scenting 
a  story. 

"We'll  tell  you  afterwards,"  the  engineer  re- 
plied. "G-o  on  with  your  story  first.  What 
happened  after  the  mirage  had  worked  a  miracle 
atShaiba?" 

"The  next  thing,"  the  captain  answered,  "was 
to  send  a  good  strong  force  to  the  Qarun  River  to 
patrol  the  pipe-line  and  to  hold  back  the  Arabs. 
There  are  10,000  hostile  Arabs,  under  Turkish 
officers,  ready  to  raise  the  deuce  with  that  whole 
Qarun  section,  but  our  political  leaders  have 
worked  the  trick  on  the  Sheik  of  Muhammerah  so 
smoothly  that  the  Turkish  force  has  never  yet 


dared  to  come  to  an  actual  clash.  They  may,  on 
Persian  territory,  yet,  but  they  haven't  risked  it 
so  far.  If  they  do,  that  will  bring  20,000  well- 
armed  Arabs  to  our  standard,  a  thing  which  would 
checkmate  the  Turk  on  the  Qarun. 

"We  heard  that  Suleiman  Askeri  committed 
suicide,  as  soon  as  he  learned  that  he  had  ordered 
the  retreat  of  his  troops  because  of  a  mirage,  and 
thereby  had  missed  his  country's  best  chance  of 
a  victory.  Of  course  it  put  the  Bedouins  on  our 
side.  When  the  Turks  broke  at  Shaiba,  great 
bands  of  nomad  Arabs,  who  had  no  love  for  either 
side,  Arabs  who  hated  their  Turkish  overlord, 
and  who  equally  resented  the  coming  of  the  for- 
eigners, desert  warriors  who  had  been  hanging  on 
the  flanks  of  the  battle  with  the  intention  of 
plundering  whichever  army  was  vanquished,  fell 
•on  the  fleeing  Turks,  harrying  them  and  taking 
spoil  of  the  stragglers  as  far  as  Khamisseyeh, 
ninety  miles  away. 

"We  already  had  the  support  of  the  Arabs  on 
both  sides  of  the  lower  reaches  of  the  Shatt-el- 
Arab,  and  the  victory  at  Shaiba  decided  the  hostile 
desert  tribe  that  their  better  chance  of  plunder 
lay  in  spoiling  the  Turks  instead  of  us.  The 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  MIRAGE     221 

mirage,  therefore,  had  not  only  gained  a  battle, 
but  had  turned  the  tide  of  nomad  Arab  hostility 
against  our  enemies. 

"The  biggest  part  of  the  work  was  in  front  of 
us,  however.  Subhi  Bey  was  solidly  encamped  at 
Qurnah,  with  a  very  considerable  force,  officered 
by  Germans,  as  you  know." 

"Yes,"  put  in  the  engineer,  "Von  Behrein  is  in 
charge  of  the  artillery  end,  here.  That  much  I 
found  out." 

"He  is,  eh?"  The  captain  looked  grave. 
"Maybe  Qurnah  will  be  a  tougher  nut  to  crack 
than  I  think,  then.  I  hope  not,  though.  Our 
little  affair  of  yesterday  was  just  to  feel  out 
Subhi  Bey.  Colonel  Frazier  came  up  quite  close 
to  the  town  yesterday,  with  the  Norf  oiks  and  some 
of  the  Indian  troops,  led  by  three  gunboats,  two 
armed  launches,  and  an  armed  yacht. 

"We  were  put  ashore  about  three  miles  down  and 
marched,  or  floundered,  up  the  river  bank.  There 
had  been  some  rain  the  day  before  and  the  mud 
down  here  is  horrible.  Our  men  were  sliding  and 
stumbling  forward  when  quite  a  snug  little  party 
of  Turks  rushed  us  from  a  hidden  redoubt  in  a 
palm-grove.  We  beat  them  back  without  much 


222      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

difficulty  and  charged  forward  to  take  the  redoubt, 
only  to  find  ourselves  in  the  middle  of  a  strong 
Turkish  position. 

*  *  I  gave  the  order  to  retire  and  we  were  getting 
away  in  good  order  when  two  bullets  struck  me 
at  the  same  time,  one  on  the  head  and  one  in  the 
arm.  I  dropped,  I  suppose,  for  the  first  thing  I 
knew,  I  was  in  a  dressing-station  behind  the  Turk- 
ish lines  and  a  German  doctor  was  working  on  my 
shoulder.  Mos-t  unpleasant  sort  of  chap  he  was, 
but  a  good  surgeon.  He  seemed  quite  resentful 
of  our  troops  having  come  at  all,  and  I  gathered 
that  the  Germans  had  expected  a  walk-away. 
They  had  figured  on  fortifying  Abadan  and 
Saniyeh  and  so  having  an  advanced  base  threaten- 
ing India. 

"I  got  one  evidence  of  German  feeling.  While 
bending  over  my  dressing  he  murmured  in  Ger- 
man: 

"  'What  foolishness  to  take  care  of  one's  own 
enemy!'  " 

"How  was  it,"  asked  the  engineer,  "that  you 
got  off  with  nothing  but  a  shoulder  wound  if  you 
were  also  struck  in  the  head?" 

"I  puzzled  over  that,"  the  captain  said,  "but 
as  I  got  nothing  but  a  thundering  big  bruise  there 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  MIRAGE     223 

I  suppose  I  was  hit  by  a  spent  bullet  which  must 
either  have  ricoohetted  from  the  slimy  mud  or 
else  been  deflected  from  the  trunk  of  a  palm- 
tree.  " 

"Narrow  shave,"  the  engineer  remarked. 

* '  Right-o ! ' '  agreed  the  captain.  ' '  And  my  arm 
isn't  so  badly  hurt  either.  I'll  be  able  to  get 
right  back  into  harness  the  minute  our  men  march 
in  here. ' ' 

" Always  supposing  we-  aren't  sent  to  Amara 
or  Bagdad  before  that  happens,"  put  in  the  en- 
gineer. 

"We'll  hope  for  better  luck  than  that,"  the 
officer  replied.  Then  he  continued:  "Now,  I 
think,  it's  my  turn.  Suppose  you  tell  your  story. 
How  did  you  get  down  here,  Sir  James  f  Qurnah 
is  a  long  way  from  Hit ! ' ' 

"We've  had  some  adventures,  too!"  the  en- 
gineer admitted,  and  told  in  detail  the  story  of  the 
motor-boat  race  down  the  Tigris. 

That  evening,  the  non-commissioned  officer  in 
charge  of  the  guard  notified  the  prisoners  that  the 
Commandant  was  no  longer  able  to  arrange  for 
their  food  and  so  forth  in  their  present  quarters. 
Every  facility  would  be  given  them  to  purchase 
supplies,  if  they  wished  to  do  so,  otherwise  they 


224     WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

would  have  to  go  to  the  common  prison  camp,  with 
other  prisoners  of  war. 

"Jolly  awkward,"  said  the  captain.  "One 
doesn't  take  a  pocket  full  of  sovereigns  on  a  re- 
connoissance. ' ' 

"And  I  got  rid  of  most  of  mine,"  added  the 
engineer,  "impressing  those  beggars  in  Bagdad 
with  plenty  of  baksheesh." 

Whereupon  David  spoke  up  promptly,  glad  that 
he  had  the  chance  of  being  of  service. 

'  *  When  Father  had  to  go  away  in  such  a  hurry, ' ' 
he  said,  "he  told  me  to  use  a  cuneiform  tablet 
that  he  had  found  in  Babylon,  which  is  bordered 
with  gems.  I've  given  away  a  couple.  I'm  sure 
Father  would  like  me  to  give  it  to  you  sir,"  he 
said,  handing  the  tablet  to  the  engineer,  "if  it 
could  help  you  and  Captain  Pomeroy.  Only,"  he 
added,  "I'd  like  the  tablet  back  afterwards,  be- 
cause Father  entrusted  it  to  me.  He  said  the  in- 
scription was  very  important  as  a  historical 
record. ' ' 

"That's  jolly  decent  of  you,  David,"  said  the 
engineer,  taking  the  tablet  and  examining  it  with 
a  great  deal  of  interest.  "I  don't  know  a  great 
deal  about  stones,"  he  continued,  "but  some  of 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  MIRAGE     225 

these  are  rubies,  I'm  pretty  sure.  This  will  help 
us  along  a  few  days  in  any  case." 

Calling  for  the  soldier,  the  engineer  bade  him 
send  for  a  jewel  merchant  in  the  town,  and  after 
lengthy  chaffering  a  gem  changed  hands.  The 
Turkish  Commandant  paid  a  visit  to  the  prisoners 
later  in  the  evening,  spent  a  friendly  half-hour, 
proved  himself  a  most  courteous  gentleman  as 
well  as  a  gallant  soldier  and  begged  his  English 
captives  to  accept  a  gift  of  tobacco. 

Six  days  later,  while  David  was  busy  working 
over  his  mathematics  and  the  two  men  were  dis- 
cussing political  probabilities  in  Mesopotamia,  a 
distant  rattling  of  shots  was  heard,  and,  not  more 
than  an  hour  later,  a  British  officer  suddenly  en- 
tered. 

"Hello,  Pomeroy,"  he  said,  as  quietly  as 
though  he  had  seen  him  that  morning.  ' '  I  heard 
you  were  in  here. ' ' 

' '  Confound  it,  Somers, ' '  said  the  captain,  jump- 
ing up  and  shaking  his  brother  officer's  hand, 
"when  did  you  get  taken?" 

"I  get  taken,  man !"  exclaimed  the  other,  laugh- 
ing, "I'm  not  taken.  Qurnah  is!  The  old  flag's 
flying  over  Turkish  headquarters  now.  We  col- 


226      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

lared  Mezerah  first  thing  this  morning,  sent  the 
sappers  six  miles  to  the  north,  crossed  the  river 
there  where  no  one  was  expecting  us  and  came 
down  on  the  other  bank,  surrounding  the  town  on 
every  side.  The  Turks  didn't  even  have  a  chance 
to  fight.  They  laid  down  their  arms.  They  had 
to !  Unconditional  surrender ! ' ' 

"I  was  sure  we'd  do  it !"  exclaimed  the  captain. 

Then,  turning  to  his  companions,  he  introduced 
them,  and  David  noticed  the  instant  surprise  and 
respect  which  the  mention  of  his  comrade 's  name 
created. 

"The  General  will  be  delighted  to  hear  of  your 
safety,  Sir  James,"  said  their  rescuer.  "I  will 
send  him  word  at  once. " 

Then,  turning  to  the  lad,  he  said,  hospitably, 

' '  Come  along,  David.  Young  America  will  dine 
to-night  in  the  officers '  mess ! ' ' 


VIADUCT  BEFORE  EXPLOSIONS.  VIADUCT  AFTER  EXPLOSIONS. 


•4K. 


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THE  FIRST  CHARGE. 


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THE  SECOND  CHARGE. 


THE  THIRD  CHARGE. 


THE  FOURTH  CHARGE. 


Auttralian  Official  Photo. 

BLOWING  UP  THE  BEERSHEBA  RAILROAD. 

Demolition  of  the  Aslus  Viaduct,  built  by  Germans  and  Turks  during 
the  war     Upon  the  capture  of  Palestine,  it  was  rebuilt  by  the  British. 


THE  BLACKEST  DAY 

QURNAH  being  held  purely  as  a  military  position, 
there  was  no  place  for  David  in  the  British  camp. 
Having  no  knowledge  whether  his  father  had  suc- 
ceeded in  escaping,  yet  unwilling  to  leave  the 
country,  David  found  himself  obliged  to  decline  a 
kindly  invitation  from  Sir  James  Testahen,  whose 
duties  called  him  to  England  now  that  the  irri- 
gation survey  was  enforcedly  abandoned.  He 
offered  to  take  the  lad  with  him  and  place  him  in 
care  of  friends  until  the  war  was  over. 

"You  see,  sir,"  the  boy  answered,  "Father 
told  me  to  try  to  find  a  Mr.  Ferguson,  in  Basra. 
He  is  an  old  friend  of  Father's.  Since  the  Eng- 
lish are  there,  it  ought  to  be  safe  for  me  to  stay, 
and  Father  will  expect  to  find  me  there." 

"Very  good,"  the  engineer  replied,  "perhaps 
you  had  better  do  so.  But  if  you  don't  find  this 
American  in  Basra,  let  me  know.  I  am  going 
down  to  Abadan  to  stay  a  few  days.  If  you  find 
your  friend,  telegraph  me  to  that  effect;  if  not, 

227 


228      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

telegraph  that  you  are  coming,  and  meet  me  down 
there.  In  any  case,  you  ought  not  to  stay  in 
Mesopotamia  alone." 

With  the  engineer's  aid  and  the  friendship  of 
the  British  officers,  David  had  no  difficulty  in  find- 
ing a  vessel  to  take  him  down  the  river.  Craft  of 
all  sorts  were  plying  between  Basra  and  Qurnah, 
bringing  supplies  and  munitions  up  to  the  ad- 
vanced base  and  taking  wounded  men  back  to  the 
base  hospital  at  Qurnah,  for  skirmishes  of  a  minor 
order  were  going  on  continually. 

With  characteristic  English  spirit,  the  first 
thing  that  the  incoming  victors  had  done  had  been 
to  commence  permanent  local  improvements. 
Drifting,  or  rather  sailing  down  the  river  in  a 
high-hulled  mahayla,  David  was  surprised  to  find, 
at  his  journey's  end,  the  vessel  being  moored  to  a 
substantial  wharf. 

There  are  few  things  which  have  done  more  to 
make  the  British  Empire  the  power  that  it  is  than 
the  English  system  of  bettering  the  conditions  of 
the  natives  wherever  the  Union  Jack  flies.  The 
English  had  been  in  Basra  but  a  little  more  than 
a  month,  yet  quays  had  been  constructed  on  the 
river-bank  and  a  two-mile  road  had  been  built 
from  the  quays  to  Old  Basra.  Turkish  tax  ex- 


THE  BLACKEST  DAY  229 

actions  were  at  an  end.  Arab  looting  and  robbery 
by  violence  had  been  quickly  stopped.  Even- 
handed  and  impartial  justice  had  been  established, 
and  sanitary  measures  were  in  force,  a  thing  un- 
known in  Mesopotamia  during  the  entire  four 
centuries  of  Turkish  rule. 

It  was  on  the  very  first  day  that  David  was  in 
Basra  that  he  saw  a  little  incident  which  ex- 
plained to  him,  more  than  a  thousand  statements 
could  have  done,  the  manner  in  which  England 
makes  friends  of  Eastern  peoples. 

It  chanced,  that  a  couple  of  days  before  David's 
arrival,  some  soldiers  had  been  chaffing  each  other 
about  their  respective  merits  as  crack  shots.  One 
of  them,  who  was  very  proud  of  his  skill,  purely  as 
a  matter  of  showing  off,  raised  his  rifle  and  fired 
at  a  stork  on  her  nest,  the  bird  being  a  long  dis- 
tance away.  It  was  an  excellent  shot  and  the 
mother  stork  fell  off  her  high-perched  nest,  dead. 

Now  the  soldier  either  did  not  know  or  had 
forgotten  that  the  stork  is  regarded  with  peculiar 
veneration  by  the  Arabs,  because  they  have  a  tra- 
dition that  he  clacks  his  beak  and  tries  to  say 
"Allah!  Allah!"  at  the  morning  and  evening 
prayers  when  the  muezzin  proclaims  the  hour 
from  the  minarets.  Consequently,  a  strong  local 


230      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

resentment  arose  which  came  to  the  ears  of  the 
Commanding  Officer,  and  the  soldier  was  put  un- 
der arrest. 

Now  the  real  cause  of  arrest  was  disobedience 
of  orders,  because  reckless  and  unnecessary  shoot- 
ing is  at  all  times  forbidden,  but  at  the  same  time, 
the  Commanding  Officer  thought  it  would  be  a 
good  lesson  for  the  rest  of  the  men  if  he  should 
make  an  example  of  this  one.  He  therefore  or- 
dered a  somewhat  curious  sentence. 

The  body  of  the  stork  was  placed  in  a  coffin, 
hung  with  crape,  and  set  in  the  middle  of  the 
market-place,  and  the  offender  was  ordered  to  do 
sentry-go  over  it  eight  hours  a  day  for  a  week, 
two  hours  on  and  two  hours  off,  beginning  at  six 
o'clock  in  the  morning.  The  Arabs  regarded  the 
situation  gravely  and  seriously,  and  decided 
among  themselves  that  the  English  must  indeed 
be  a  just  race,  since  they  would  punish  their  own 
people  for  outraging  the  customs  of  a  conquered 
city. 

David  had  no  difficulty  in  finding  Ferguson. 
Acting  upon  the  engineer's  suggestion,  he  ap- 
pealed to  the  Director  of  Local  Resources,  a  post 
entailing  the  organization  of  the  Arabs  as  allies 
in  providing  supplies  for  the  troops.  He  knew 


THE  BLACKEST  DAY  231 

Ferguson's  name  at  once  and  gave  the  boy  ex- 
plicit directions  how  to  find  his  house. 

Ferguson,  a  quick,  affable,  jerky  sort  of  man, 
grasped  the  situation  in  an  instant.  He  greeted 
the  boy  as  if  he  had  known  him  all  his  life. 

"David  Suroh,"  he  said,  "son  of  old  Dead- 
Bones  Surch — don't  take  offense,  that  is  what  we 
used  to  call  him  at  college — come  right  in! 
Hungry?  Of  course!"  He  shouted  for  a  serv- 
ant. 

"Make  yourself  at  home.  So  long!"  and  he 
was  off. 

It  was  while  David  was  staying  in  Basra  that 
the  news  came  in  of  the  first  attempt  to  take  the 
Suez  Canal.  Some  official  accounts  had  been  re- 
ceived, but  the  first  definite  description  came  in  the 
form  of  a  letter  from  the  archaeologist  to  Fergu- 
son, asking  for  news  of  David.  The  boy,  of  course, 
had  written  to  his  father  from  Qurnah  immedi- 
ately upon  his  rescue,  but  he  had  addressed  his 
letter  to  Jerusalem,  in  care  of  the  Palestine  Ex- 
ploration Fund,  to  which  place  he  supposed  his 
father  to  have  gone.  From  there,  undoubtedly, 
his  letter  would  not  have  been  forwarded,  in  any 
event,  even  supposing  it  had  reached  there,  which 
was  highly  improbable,  since  all  postal  communi- 


232      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

cation  with  enemy  countries  was  at  a  standstill. 
The  archaeologist  *s  letter,  or  rather  that  portion 
of  it  which  dealt  with  the  attack  on  Egypt,  was 
explicative  and  to  the  point. 

"You  see,  Ferguson,"  he  wrote,  "the  Egyptian 
campaign  is  a  necessity  to  Turkey.  Every  alli- 
ance in  war  is  based  on  a  selfish  reason,  and  Egypt 
is  the  only  bribe  that  Germany  can  offer  to 
Turkey.  Now  the  invasion  and  conquest  of  Egypt 
is  a  sea-power  matter,  and  as  long  as  the  Allies 
hold  the  sea,  there's  not  much  danger. 

"Bight  at  the  beginning  of  the  war,  as  you  re- 
member, the  German  warships  Goeben  and  Bres- 
lau  escaped  the  Allied  Mediterranean  fleet l  and 
steamed  into  the  Golden  Horn.  This  escape  was 
taken  by  Turkey  as  an  evidence  that  German  war- 
ships could  patrol  the  sea  when  and  where  they 
wished. 

"Again,  also  at  the  beginning  of  the  war,  the 
Khedive  of  Egypt,  Abbas  Hilmi,  was  entirely  in 
the  power  and  in  the  pay  of  the  German-Turkish 
ring,  by  which,  under  the  guise  of  'nationalist' 
movements,  the  Young  Turks  at  Constantinople 
were  to  win  their  reforms  and  the  Cairo  National- 
ists were  to  be  freed  from  English  restriction. 
The  Imperial  German  Bank  financed  both  these 
movements. 

"Germany,  however  clever  she  may  be  in  mili- 
tary matters,  is  Weak  in  diplomacy.  Almost  in- 
variably she  makes  a  mistake  in  judging  the  char- 

i  For  the  significance  of  the  Goeben  incident  and  the  dramatic 
way  in  which  it  was  carried  out,  the  reader  is  referred  to  the 
author's  companion  volume,  "The  Wonder  of  War  at  Sea." 


THE  BLACKEST  DAY  233 

acters  of  peoples.  Vain  of  her  Secret  Service 
system,  she  relies  upon  the  reports  of  her  agents, 
who,  naturally,  like  to  present  their  work  as  im- 
portant. 

"  German  agents  in  Cairo  told  Berlin  that  the 
Cairo  Nationalists  were  strong,  when  as  a  matter 
of  fact,  they  seem  to  have  been  very  weak.  Ber- 
lin was  informed  that  Egypt  was  ready  to  revolt 
and  that  the  Egyptian  Army  would  turn  on  its 
English  superiors.  Berlin  also  put  a  great  deal 
of  faith  in  the  Sultan's  proclamation  of  a  Holy 
War.  Each  and  every  one  of  these  ideas  were 
wrong. 

*  *  I  don 't  pretend  to  be  a  diplomat,  and  being  an 
American,  I've  never  bothered  with  European 
politics,  but  I  could  have  told  them  better  than 
that.  The  point  lies  in  this :  there  are  more  Mo- 
hammedans in  the  world  under  English  rule  than 
under  Turkish  rule  and  they  are  better  satisfied. 
That's  no  ground  for  starting  a  Holy  War. 

"The  natural  result  was  that,  as  soon  as  war 
was  declared  with  Turkey,  the  Khedive,  instead 
of  leading  his  Cairo  Nationalists  in  revolt, 
promptly  ran  away.  He  went  first  to  Italy  which 
was  then  neutral,  thence  to  Vienna  and  Constanti- 
nople. Egypt  was  made  a  British  protectorate 
with  Prince  Huessein  Kamel  as  Sultan. 

"I've  just  come  across  the  Sinai  desert,  and  I 
realize  that  Egypt  is  as  well  defended  by  that 
desert  as  if  she  had  an  army  of  a  million  men 
there.  No  wonder  Pharaoh  didn't  pursue  the 
Children  of  Israel.  His  army  would  have  died  of 
thirst,  if  he  had  tried  it. 

"Think  of  it,  Ferguson,  a  hundred  and  more 
miles  of  stony  and  waterless  desert  divided  from 


234     WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

an  equally  arid  mass  of  mountains  by  a  tract  of 
waterless  sand.  The  region  is  rainless.  Not  a 
cloud  is  ever  seen  in  the  burning  sky.  With  the 
exception  of  the  dry  and  stunted  scrub  in  the  hol- 
lows of  the  southern  mountains,  Sinai  is  dead; 
cursed  by  an  everlasting  thirst;  silent  with  the 
curse  of  eternal  death. 

"To  transport  a  modern  army  over  this 
'  stretch,  with  men,  transport  animals,  artillery,  and 
the  rest  seemed  impossible.  The  Turks  would 
never  have  dreamed  of  trying  it.  But  their  child- 
like faith  in  the  Germans  was  touching.  Full 
confidence  was  placed  in  the  German  chief  of 
staff,  General  von  Kressenstein,  who  directed 
Djemal  Pasha's  army. 

"It  must  be  admitted  that  the  Germans  and 
Turks  together  did  very  well.  They  did  succeed 
in  crossing  the  desert,  though  nearly  all  the  heavy 
artillery  had  to  be  left  behind,  and  they  crossed 
it  with  over  30,000  men.  A  light  railway  was 
built  to  carry  the  supplies.  But,  though  I  don't 
pretend  to  understand  military  matters  very  well, 
it  seems  clear  to  me  that  their  principal  weakness 
lay  in  the  fact  that  the  whole  transport  force  was 
consumed  in  merely  getting  the  army  there.  No 
provision  was  possible  for  keeping  the  army,  once 
it  was  there.  Success  required  that  the  Suez  Ca- 
nal must  be  taken  by  storm.  It  was  the  old  Ger- 
man trick  of  believing  that  everything  could  be  se- 
cured at  the  first  smash. 

"The  British  officers  here  say  that  the  actual 
campaign  was  well  handled.  The  Germans  and 
Turks  had  anticipated  a  sharp  defense  at  El  Arish 
where  the  British  had  always  kept  an  advance 
post,  but  there  they  met  no  check  at  all.  The  El 


THE  BLACKEST  DAY  235 

Arish  post  had  been  withdrawn  as  too  costly  to 
defend.  That  left  open  to  the  Turks  the  three 
caravan  routes  to  Suez,  the  only  possible  lines  of 
advance.  Contrary  to  general  expectation,  the 
British  did  not  try  to  defend  these  routes,  though 
the  two  southern  could  easily  have  been  con- 
trolled by  forts.  England  was  taking  the  ground 
that  she  was  only  defending  the  interests  of 
Egypt,  and  decided  to  fight  from  the  Suez  Canal, 
rather  than  to  treat  it  as  a  military  campaign. 

"Now  the  Suez  Canal  is  90  miles  long,  and  at 
least  40  miles  of  its  length  consists  of  stretches 
of  lakes,  especially  Ballah,  Timsah,  Great  Bitter 
and  Little  Bitter  Lakes.  As  an  actual  matter  of 
fact,  the  only  points  where  a  land  army  would 
have  any  chance  at  all  of  forcing  the  passage  of 
the  Suez  by  pontoon  bridge,  constructed  under 
fire,  or  by  rafts,  would  be  between  El  Kantara 
and  Toussoum,  a  distance  of  about  thirty  miles. 
Yet  those  thirty  miles  are  among  the  most  im- 
portant thirty  miles  in  the  world.  They  are  ab- 
solutely necessary  to  civilization. 

"As  I  look  back  on  the  last  few  days,"  the 
letter  continued,  "it  seems  to  me  that  the  French 
aviators  and  aeroplanes  deserved  a  lot  of  praise. 
Desert  flying  is  quite  a  trick,  so  I'm  told,  but  the 
Frenchmen  were  in  the  air  all  the  time.  As  an 
attack,  like  that  on  Suez,  should  be  of  the  char- 
acter of  a  surprise,  the  aviators  utterly  crippled 
the  Turkish  plans.  On  the  flat  sands,  through 
the  defiles,  along  the  wadys,  we  knew  exactly  what 
forces  were  coming  and  in  what  direction. 

"The  British  had  never  a  moment's  anxiety. 
All  the  officers  expressed  themselves  as  sorry  for 
the  Turks,  driven  on  by  Germany  to  a  hopeless 


236     WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

task,  for  to  attack  the  Suez  by  land  was  hopeless. 
The  British  had  a  fresh-water  canal  along  the 
whole  length  of  the  ship  canal.  They  had  a  rail- 
way line,  not  a  temporary  military  affair,  but  a 
good  solid  construction,  with  plenty  of  rolling- 
stock,  running  along  the  Egyptian  bank.  In  the 
lakes  were  ships  of  war,  French  and  British,  in 
the  wider  stretches  were  torpedo  boats  and  de- 
stroyers, in  the  narrow  stretches  armed  navy 
launches  covered  every  foot  of  water  with  their 
buzzing  activity.  All  along  the  line  of  the  bank 
were  carefully  dug  trenches,  protected  with  sand- 
bags and  faced  with  barbed  wire.  Every  section 
of  the  front  was  in  telegraphic  communication 
with  headquarters.  Guns  were  plenty,  ammuni- 
tion not  scarce,  and  bases  of  supply  were  close  at 
hand.  The  soldiers  were  unwearied  and  eager. 

"What  chance  did  the  Turks  have?  They  had 
toiled  for  weeks  over  the  terrible  desert,  much 
of  the  time  on  short  rations,  all  the  time  on  the 
smallest  possible  amount  of  water.  They  had 
been  unable  to  bring  along  heavy  artillery.  With 
vast  exertion  and  much  pluck  they  had  dragged 
pontoons  for  the  crossing  of  the  canal.  They  had 
no  opportunity  for  secrecy,  the  aeroplanes  roared 
overhead  and  reported  their  every  move. 

"Then,  when  at  last  they  reached  the  shore  of 
the  Gulf,  they  could  not  wait  to  dig  permanent 
trenches,  they  could  not  affort  to  rest  the  men  and 
prepare  them  for  battle.  Why  not?  Because 
of  the  supply  of  water.  One  of  the  greatest 
stimuli  to  the  Turkish  Army  was  the  knowledge 
of  the  fresh-water  canal  on  the  other  side  of  the 
ship  canal.  If  they  could  rush  the  wider  stream, 
the  thirst-quenching  liquid  lay  beyond. 


THE  BLACKEST  DAY  237 

1  'To  do  the  Turks  justice,  in  the  face  of  an 
utterly  impossible  task,  they  charged  gallantly. 
At  Toussoum  they  almost  succeeded  in  getting  a 
bridge  across;  at  Kantara,  several  pontoons 
reached  the  Egyptian  bank. 

"But  the  odds  were  too  terribly  heavy.  With 
warships  hurling  a  ponderous  mass  of  metal, 
every  Turkish  battery  was  speedily  silenced ;  with 
machine-guns  dominating  every  inch  of  the  shore, 
every  Turk  who  crossed  was  instantly  swept 
down;  with  a  trench  system  that  would  have  re- 
sisted a  German  massed  attack,  the  fury  of  the 
travel-worn  Turk  could  do  nothing.  A  few  hours 
sufficed  to  show  the  attack  an  utter  failure.  The 
British  did  not  even  pursue  the  enemy  into  the 
desert.  There  was  no  need.  They  knew  a  more 
relentless  foe,  thirst,  would  finish  their  task. 

"The  three  routes  by  which  the  Turks  advanced 
are  now  white  with  the  bleaching  bones  of  the  re- 
mains of  the  army  which  straggled  back,  water- 
less and  exhausted,  to  the  headquarters  at  Beer- 
sheba  and  Gaza  whence  the  advance  was  made. 
It  would  have  been  the  same  story  had  the  Turk- 
ish force  been  ten  times  as  great. 

"I  am  convinced  that  the  Suez  Canal  is  abso- 
lutely invulnerable  from  the  Sinaitic  side.  Of 
course,  what  is  a  barrier  to  the  Turk  is  also  a 
barrier  to  the  British  and  if  England  retorts  by  a 
counter-charge  on  Palestine,  which  is  more  than 
possible,  that  desert  of  Sinai  will  have  to  be  ne- 
gotiated by  Allied  troops.  I've  done  so  much  ex- 
ploring in  Southern  Palestine  that  I  shall  stay  in 
touch  with  the  British  here,  as  I  may  be  useful 
here  and  could  not  be  of  much  use  on  the  Tigris, 
even  if  I  could  find  a  way  of  getting  there. ' ' 


238      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

The  old  archaeologist  then  proceeded  with  a 
long  series  of  instructions  as  to  the  best  measures 
that  should  be  pursued  of  finding  the  whereabouts 
of  David,  if  so  be  that  he  had  not  yet  reached 
Basra.  "I  don't  say  I'm  exactly  worried  about 
him,"  the  letter  closed,  "but,  naturally,  I'm  a  bit 
anxious.  Wire  me,  if  you  have  any  news. ' ' 

Ferguson  was  an  American,  shrewd  and  re- 
sourceful. By  profession  he  was  a  promoter. 
He  had  originally  gone  to  the  East  with  the  idea 
of  forming  a  company  which  should  secure  a  mo- 
nopoly of  the  oriental  rug  output  of  the  Persian 
and  Turkish  countries,  knowing  that  if  this  could 
be  formed,  such  a  company  could  force  down  the 
prices  paid  to  the  rug-makers — for  they  would 
have  no  other  market  for  their  wares — and  force 
up  the  prices  asked  from  the  buyer — for  there 
would  be  no  other  source  of  supply.  In  this  pro- 
ject, however,  he  reckoned  without  the  Armenian 
merchants,  who  stick  together  very  closely  and 
are  building  up  a  similar  monopoly  on  their  own 
account. 

Being  wise  enough  to  realize  that  it  would  be 
a  long  and  complicated  business  to  undermine  the 
Armenian  hold  on  oriental  trade,  Ferguson  looked 
around  to  see  what  was  the  principal  need  of  the 


THE  BLACKEST  DAY  239 

region  in  which  he  had  practically  marooned  him- 
self. At  last  he  found  it. 

"You  see,  David,"  he  explained  to  the  boy, 
"when  I  found  I  was  stuck  out  here,  I  knew  that 
the  only  thing  to  be  done  was  to  discover  some 
place  where  people  spent  money  to  do  something 
which  I  could  find  a  way  to  do  for  them  cheaper. 
That's  the  first  principle  of  business,  my  boy.  Do 
something  for  somebody  cheaper  than  he  can  get 
it  done  anywhere  else,  and  make  a  profit  on  it 
yourself  at  the  same  time.  Then  you've  got  a 
sure  thing.  An  Arab's  human,  after  all,  and  I've 
noticed  that  a  Mohammedan  knows  how  to  reckon 
in  dollars  and  cents  just  as  well  as  a  Christian  or 
a  Jew. 

"I  thought  of  running  a  line  of  steamboats  on 
the  Tigris.  I  knew  I  could  bring  down  merchan- 
dise from  above  Bagdad,  slip  round  the  Persian 
Gulf  to  the  Bed  Sea,  and  unload  at  Port  Said  on 
the  Mediterranean,  landing  goods  there  at  a 
cheaper  rate  than  the  caravan  route  to  Damascus 
and  the  Anatolian  Railway  to  Constantinople  or 
the  Syrian  Eailway  to  a  port.  There  would  be 
real  money  in  that. ' ' 

"Why  didn't  you  do  it?"  asked  the  boy. 

"Couldn't  get  the  boats,"  Ferguson  answered. 


240     WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

"The  Tigris  is  so  infernally  shallow  that  nothing 
but  river  steamers  can  navigate  it,  vessels  with 
three  or  four  feet  draught,  at  the  very  outside, 
and  a  steamer  with  three-foot  draught  can't  cross 
the  open  sea.  The  Indian  Ocean  is  pretty  rough, 
and  if  I  had  to  transship  goods  to  an  ocean 
steamer  at  Fao,  I'd  increase  my  cost  terribly,  as 
there  aren't  any  port  facilities  there  and  Arab 
labor  isn't  worth  shucks." 

"So  that  plan  went  up  in  smoke,"  commented 
David. 

"Yes,  I  saw  that  was  no  go.  Just  the  same,  I 
knew  that  the  key  to  the  Tigris  market  lay  in 
transport.  You  know  how  goods  are  transported 
here?" 

"You  mean  the  rafts?  I  never  saw  one  made, 
but  we  passed  a  few  in  that  wild  motor-boat  rush 
down  the  river." 

David  had  told  his  part  of  his  adventures  in 
company  with  Sir  James  Testahen,  and  the  Ameri- 
can, far  too  shrewd  to  miss  the  opportunity  of 
getting  in  touch  with  a  big  man,  had  taken  the  boy 
down  to  Abadan  for  a  final  chat,  just  before  the 
engineer  left  for  England. 

"Never  saw  a  raft  made?"  laughed  Ferguson. 
"Well,  it  isn't  what  you'd  call  modern  ship-build- 


THE  BLACKEST  DAY  241 

ing.  They  take  seventy-two  poplar  poles  brought 
down  from  the  upper  reaches  of  the  river  and 
lash  them  together,  thirty-six  one  way  and  thirty- 
six  the  other,  crossways.  Then  they  take  the 
skins  of  goats  and  blow  them  full  of  air,  tying 
the  necks  and  legs  tightly,  and  fasten  those  under 
the  raft  and  all  round  the  edges.  An  ordinary 
raft,  eighteen  feet  square,  will  use  from  250  to 
300  of  these  skins.  Then  the  front  end  is  piled 
with  merchandise  and  a  hut  for  the  boatman  and 
sometimes  for  passengers  is  built  with  poles  and 
strips  of  felt.  Then  that  floats  down  the  river, 
day  and  night,  until  it  arrives  at  Bagdad  or 
Amara,  or  even  as  far  as  Basra.  The  merchan- 
dise is  unloaded.  The  poles  are  cut  up  and  sold 
as  firewood — they  bring  a  good  price  in  the  desert 
where  there  is  no  fuel  but  twigs  of  brushwood,  the 
roots  of  grass  and  camel-dung  to  burn — and  the 
skins  are  deflated  and  carried  north  again  on  the 
backs  of  asses. 

' 'Now,"  here  Ferguson  pointed  his  finger 
thoughtfully, ' '  as  soon  as  I  grasped  that  system,  I 
saw  that  there  was  a  big  loss  of  energy.  If  you 
can  float  a  raft  downstream,  but  have  to  tote  the 
skins  north  again,  you  have  an  empty  journey, 
which  means  loss.  Moreover,  in  order  to  have 


242      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

the  mules  to  transport  north,  they  have  to  come 
south.  How  would  it  be  to  work  out  a  scheme  to 
use  the  river  both  ways? 

"Pretty  soon  I  hit  it  off.  I  wouldn't  need  to 
build  any  river  craft,  there  were  the  mahaylas, 
and  some  o'  them  hardly  draw  any  water  at  all. 
Easy!  I  sent  for  a  few  auxiliary  engines,  put 
them  in  the  lightest-draught  mahaylas  that  I  could 
find  and  started  trading  up-river.  On  my  trips 
now  I  carry  the  goatskins  for  the  raftsmen  for 
less  than  mule-transport  cost,  and  I  give  them  the 
ride  for  nothing.  Besides  that,  I'm  always 
mighty  careful  to  bring  nothing  down  river  except 
stuff  that  would  be  injured  by  the  dampness  of 
being  close  to  the  water  on  a  raft,  or  too  big  for 
the  rafts  to  carry  easily,  or  for  which  the  shippers 
are  willing  to  pay  extra  for  quicker  handling. 

"By  not  trying  to  compete  too  closely  on  the 
down-river  trade  and  by  charging  very  little  to 
carry  the  goatskins  up,  I've  got  the  friendship  of 
the  raftsmen  and  most  of  the  traders  on  the  river. 
It  all  came  natural  enough  because  I  lived  in  a 
little  town  on  the  Mississippi  when  I  was  a  boy. 

1  i  Then  I  went  to  work  and  made  a  chart  for  my- 
self of  the  channel  of  the  river;  I  guess  the  only 
one  there  is.  That  way  I  can  keep  from  running 


THE  BLACKEST  DAY  243 

aground  too  often.  Besides  that,  I  guess,  one  way 
and  another,  I've  towed  off  a  couple  of  hundred 
rafts  and  mahaylas  that  have  got  stuck  in  the 
mud,  so  I'm  pretty  well  known  from  the  old  Ro- 
man bridge  that  still  spans  the  river  above  the 
black  walls  of  Diarbekr  clear  down  to  Fao,  a  thou- 
sand miles  and  more.  The  Tigris  is  no  slouch  of 
a  river!  You're  all  right  with  me,  son,  but  now 
that  the  war's  on,  you  might  as  well  be  useful. 
I  need  pilots  badly,  and  I  can't  teach  the  Arabs 
to  understand  the  chart,  even  though  I've  made 
a  sort  of  translation  of  it.  You  know  English, 
you  picked  up  a  smattering  of  river  knowledge 
from  Sir  James  Testahen  and  you  could  read 
that  chart  right  off  like  a  book. ' ' 

"I'd  like  that!"  exclaimed  David.  " Any- 
thing 's  better  than  hanging  around  doing  noth- 
ing. Besides  I'd  like  to  do  my  bit  in  the  war, 
too." 

" Just  the  way  I  felt,"  Ferguson  agreed.  "All 
right,  then,  I'm  running  up  to  Qurnah  to-morrow. 
Suppose  you  come  along,  and  learn  that  stretch  of 
the  river,  anyhow." 

This  was  the  beginning  of  David's  experiences 
as  a  pilot  on  the  Tigris,  experiences  which  a  little 
later  were  to  lead  him  into  a  very  ticklish  posi- 


244      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

tion.  The  advance  post  at  Qurnah  was  relin- 
quished some  weeks  afterward,  as  the  British 
did  not  have  a  large  enough  force  to  be  able  to 
patrol  the  pipe-line  on  the  Qarun  Kiver,  to  hold 
Basra  and  Qurnah  on  the  Tigris,  as  well  as  sustain 
an  advanced  post  at  Shaiba  on  the  Euphrates. 
As  a  result,  the  Turks  advanced  again  to  Bar- 
jisiyeh,  only  a  few  miles  north  of  Basra. 

But  a  change  was  coming.  This  was  forced 
upon  British  policy  by  the  failure  of  the  naval 
attack  on  Gallipoli  in  March,  a  failure  which  was 
a  very  severe  blow  to  England's  pride,  one  of  the 
few  cases,  indeed,  when  a  heavy  bombardment  by 
some  of  the  most  powerful  vessels  in  the  greatest 
navy  in  the  world  was  productive  of  no  result. 
Failure  in  the  Orient  is  far  more  dangerous  than 
elsewhere,  for  it  injures  prestige,  and  over  wide 
stretches  of  semi-hostile  territory,  control  is  only 
held  by  prestige.  In  order  to  maintain  England's 
grip  on  India,  it  was  imperative  that  there  should 
be  a  victory  in  the  Orient. 

For  this  reason,  rather  than  because  of  the  es- 
sential value  of  Mesopotamia  in  the  World  War, 
Sir  John  Nixon  was  sent  with  a  whole  army 
corps  to  Basra,  to  extend  the  British  conquests 
and  to  report  on  the  possibility  of  an  advance  to 


THE  BLACKEST  DAY  245 

Bagdad.  Could  Bagdad  be  captured,  it  would 
effectually  put  an  end  to  Germany's  most  am- 
bitious schemes  for  eastern  conquest,  and  at  the 
same  time  it  would  convince  the  Orient  that 
British  power  was  not  only  as  strong  as  ever,  but 
stronger.  Bagdad,  as  the  old  capital  of  the 
Caliphs  and  the  most  important  city  of  Western 
Asia,  historically  considered,  was  a  prize  worth 
seeking. 

Sir  John  Nixon  arrived  in  Basra  on  April  9, 
and  David  acted  as  pilot  on  one  of  the  vessels 
which  went  down  to  the  mouth  of  the  Shatt-el- 
Arab  to  come  up  as  a  flotilla  of  honor.  The  Brit- 
ish commander  did  not  delay  operations.  On 
April  14,  five  days  after  his  arrival,  he  sent  Gen- 
eral Melliss  against  the  Turks  at  Barjisiyeh  and 
General  Gorringe  against  the  strong  Turkish  po- 
sition at  Ahwaz  on  the  Qarun  River.  Both  blows 
were  successful.  On  the  Tigris,  the  Turks  fled 
back  to  Amara,  again  deserting  Qurnah,  and  on 
the  Qarun,  the  combined  Turkish  and  Arab  forces 
were  decisively  defeated  at  Ahwaz  and  driven 
clear  away  to  Bisaitin. 

When  General  Townshend  arrived  on  April  22, 
the  question  of  the  capture  of  Amara  was  the 
next  thing  to  be  considered.  Lying  200  miles  up 


246      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

the  river  from  Basra,  it  was  the  most  important 
town,  after  Bagdad,  in  the  whole  of  Mesopotamia. 
It  was  a  modern  town,  built  less  than  fifty  years 
ago,  and  was  one  of  the  branch  centers  of  the 
German  Imperial  Bank. 

As  Ferguson  had  pointed  out  to  David,  the 
essential  question  was  not  so  much  a  question  of 
troops  as  of  transport,  a  fact  which  he  cogently 
put  before  the  British  Commander-in-Chief,  and 
which  the  latter  promptly  referred  to  London. 

1  'The  principal  urgency,"  wrote  Sir  John 
Nixon,  "is  for  six  paddle  steamers,  three  stern- 
wheel  steamers,  eight  tugs  and  forty-three  barges. 
A  properly  equipped  river  fleet  would  double  and 
treble  the  value  of  the  army  of  occupation.. ' ' 

Fateful  words ! 

But  there  was  no  time  to  wait  for  official  action 
from  England.  The  Turks  had  been  driven 
away  from  Ahwaz  and  scattered  over  the  country, 
but,  if  they  should  have  a  chance  to  re-form  at 
Amara,  it  would  be  much  more  difficult  to  take 
the  place.  This  led  to  the  formation  of  what  was 
known  as  "Townshend's  Begatta." 

After  a  conference,  to  which  Ferguson  had  been 
invited,  because  of  his  thorough  knowledge  of 
transportation,  the  American  came  back  and  sent 


THE  BLACKEST  DAY  247 

for  David,  who  was  now,  to  all  intents  and  pur- 
poses, acting  as  his  assistant,  a  position  he  was 
able  to  fulfill  very  well  because  of  his  thorough 
knowledge  of  Arabs  and  Arabic.  His  childhood 
training  stood  him  in  good  stead. 

The  boy  found  his  chief  standing  with  his  hands 
in  his  pockets  and  a  mixture  of  frown  and  grin 
upon  his  face.  He  spoke  with  a  hesitation  that 
was  rare  in  him. 

1 1 David,  my  boy,"  he  said,  "you  and  I  have 
really  got  to  take  our  part  in  this  war  seriously. 
General  Townshend  said  to  me  this  morning  that 
he  would  have  to  commandeer  my  boats,  but  that, 
naturally,  since  I  was  not  in  the  army,  and  not 
even  a  British  subject,  he  couldn't  ask  me  to  risk 
my  life  in  a  forward  movement.  At  the  same 
time,  he  let  me  see  pretty  clearly  that  I  could  be 
useful." 

"I  think  I  can  guess  what  you  answered,"  haz- 
arded David.  He  had  come  to  know  his  chief 
well  by  that  time,  and  Ferguson  was  happy  with 
the  boy,  glad  to  relapse  into  his  natural  Ameri- 
canism, always  so  out  of  place  in  Oriental  sur- 
roundings. 

"What  do  you  suppose  I  said?" 

*  *  That  you  'd  go,  anyway. ' ' 


248      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

" That's  exactly  what  I  did  say,"  Ferguson  re- 
plied, "but  I  said  more  than  that." 

"Something  about  me?" 

The  other  grunted  an  affirmation. 

"What  did  you  say  about  me?"  asked  David, 
anxiously. 

"What  would  you  have  wanted  me  to  say?" 

The  lad  thought  for  a  moment. 

"I  think,"  he  said,  "I'd  have  wanted  you  to 
say  that,  being  an  American,  you  knew  just  about 
how  an  American  boy  would  feel,  and  that  while 
the  United  States  wasn't  in  the  war,  we  were  on 
the  Allies'  side  and  that  I'd  be  only  too  glad  to 
jump  in  and  help  in  this  campaign  wherever  they 
thought  I  could  be  the  most  use." 

Ferguson  reached  out  his  hand  and  gripped  the 
lad's  firmly. 

"I  said,"  he  commented,  "that  you  were  game 
and  could  be  counted  on,  same  as  me. ' ' 

"Fine!"  ejaculated  David. 

"So,"  Ferguson  continued,  "we're  going  to 
take  a  hand  in  getting  the  troops  up-stream. 
Everything  that  floats  is  going  to  be  used.  I'm 
going  to  pilot  the  leading  gunboat,  and  you'd 
better  take  our  biggest  tow  and  pull  up  some 
transport  barges." 


THE  BLACKEST  DAY  249 

"I'd  like  to  take  one  of  the  other  gunboats!" 
pleaded  the  lad. 

"Of  course  you  would.  You'd  probably  like 
to  be  the  General  in  Command  of  the  whole  cam- 
paign. You  can't,  though.  You're  lucky  to  have 
a  chance  to  do  so  much. ' ' 

Ferguson  smiled. 

"Even  so,"  he  added,  "you  will  be  piloting  a 
gunboat,  so  far  as  the  Turks  are  aware.  I've  set 
all  my  men  at  work  making  dummy  guns  and 
funnels  and  so  forth,  so  as  to  give  the  Turks  an 
idea  of  a  powerful  fleet  on  its  way  up  river." 

"And  when  do  we  start?"  asked  the  boy. 

"To-morrow  night,"  was  the  reply.  "We 
can't  afford  to  take  more  time,  because  news  of 
our  camouflaged  'navy'  might  leak  to  the  Turks, 
and  our  biggest  ally,  right  now,  is  surprise." 

"Bully,"  the  boy  exclaimed,  "count  me  in!" 

The  evening  of  the  following  day  a  motley  col- 
lection of  craft  left  Qurnah.  There  were  gun- 
boats, real  and  camouflaged,  mahaylas,  belums, 
and  barges.  On  either  shore  scouting  parties 
advanced  in  support. 

This  fleet  was  the  last  thing  the  Turks  had  ex- 
pected. Well  aware  of  the  transport  difficulties 
that  the  British  faced,  when  they  saw  in  the  dis- 


250      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

tance  this  big  array  of  vessels,  they  were  sure  that 
naval  reinforcements  had  arrived  up  the  Shatt- 
el-Arab.  Then  General  Townshend  did  a  daring 
thing. 

Instead  of  sailing  this  whole  motley  collection 
right  up  to  the  walls  of  Amara — where  the  pre- 
tense might  have  been  discovered — he  sent  a  party 
ahead,  twenty-two  men  in  all,  to  announce  the 
arrival  of  the  " fleet"  and  to  demand  surrender. 

The  garrison  at  Amara  was  700  strong,  and  not 
badly  placed  for  defense,  but  rumors  of  the  Turk- 
ish retreat  at  Ahwaz  had  already  reached  Amara. 
Moreover,  the  non-appearance  of  even  any  rem- 
nants of  that  army  convinced  the  Turkish  gar- 
rison that  the  whole  eastern  force  had  been  cut 
to  pieces.  In  that  case,  Amara  would  soon  be 
surrounded.  Accordingly,  the  garrison  surren- 
dered, and  the  following  day  the  British  troops 
marched  in  without  resistance,  and  David's 
barges,  among  others,  landed  the  soldiers  in  the 
very  heart  of  Amara. 

Two  days  later  the  fragments  of  the  missing 
Turkish  division  staggered  into  Amara,  without 
any  knowledge  that  the  town  had  changed  mas- 
ters. The  vanguard  which  approached  the  town 
was  surrounded  and  compelled  to  surrender, 


THE  BLACKEST  DAY  251 

while  the  main  body  broke  and  scattered,  fleeing 
up  the  river  towards  Kut. 

In  spite  of  the  terrific  heat,  six  weeks  later  the 
" regatta" — David  still  holding  his  place  as  an 
unofficial  pilot  on  a  transformed  mahayla — was 
sent  up  the  Euphrates  against  the  Turkish  force 
at  Nazariyeh.  The  boy  saw  none  of  that  battle, 
but  General  Gorringe  secured  an  important  vic- 
tory, capturing  the  garrison  with  seventeen  guns 
and  a  large  quantity  of  war  material. 

Then  came  the  summer. 

From  March  to  September,  the  Mesopotamian 
sun  sets  a  record  of  heat  and  seldom,  if  ever,  lets 
a  day  go  by  without  raising  the  temperature  to 
110°.  In  the  middle  of  the  summer,  there  will  be 
fifty  or  sixty  days  on  end  where  the  noon  tem- 
perature is  over  120°  in  the  shade  and  between 
130°  and  140°  under  canvas. 

David,  though  inured  in  childhood  to  the  heat 
of  the  desert,  was  all  but  prostrated  by  the  greater 
heat  of  the  valley;  the  British  soldiers  died  by 
hundreds  from  sunstroke  and  heat-exhaustion. 
Ice  was  a  prime  necessity,  but  in  the  first  Meso- 
potamian campaign  of  1915,  there  were  no  ice- 
manufacturing  plants  attached  to  the  Medical 
Service.  Not  until  November  is  the  soldier 


252      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

allowed  to  leave  off  the  detested  sun-helmet  and 
spine-jpad,  and  then  only  during  certain  hours. 

If  Mesopotamian  Horror  Number  One  is  the 
sun,  certainly  Horror  Number  Two  is  Insects. 
Every  town  on  the  two  rivers  is  surrounded  with 
date-palms,  and  there  are  groves  scattered  in  be- 
tween. Along  the  Shatt-el-Arab,  the  groves  ex- 
tend for  a  mile  depth  on  either  side.  These 
groves,  or  date-gardens,  are  intersected  by  small 
creeks  and  irrigation  ditches  which,  though  dry 
for  months  at  a  time,  contain  numerous  stagnant 
pools  where  the  mosquito  loves  to  breed.  And 
the  mosquito,  in  Mesopotamia,  carries  not  only 
malaria,  but  a  variety  of  other  fever-giving  dis- 
eases. That  first  summer,  there  was  no  Sani- 
tation Service  to  fight  the  mosquitoes. 

Yet  the  sand-fly  is  by  far  a  worse  pest  than  the 
mosquito.  It  was  the  worst  enemy  the  soldiers 
encountered.  "Next  to  Germany,"  writes  Egan,1 
"it  is  Turkey's  most  venomous  ally  and  it  has 
incapacitated  thousands  of  men.  It  is  so  small 
as  almost  to  be  invisible  and  it  mobilizes  in  the 
great  deserts  in  armies  of  quintillions.  There  are 
times  when  every  inch  of  air-space  seems  to  be 
filled  with  sand-flies.  No  net  was  ever  made  that 

i"War  in  the  Cradle  of  the  World,"  by  E.  F.  Egan  (Harper  & 
Bros.)- 


THE  BLACKEST  DAY  253 

is  fine  enough  to  keep  them  out,  and  they  can  get 
through  anything  but  armor-plate.  When  they 
get  a  chance  to  settle  on  a  man  they  proceed  to  dig 
in  and  eat  him  up,  producing  a  variety  of  tortures 
that  nothing  else  can  equal.  Then,  in  too  many 
cases,  comes  a  slow,  wasting,  prostrating  fever, 
which  nearly  always  necessitates  a  stretcher  trip 
down  to  a  hospital  ship. ' ' 

Naturally,  David  knew  nothing  about  war,  but, 
by  the  middle  of  the  summer,  he  had  become  in- 
dignant over  the  wretched  handling  of  the  sick 
and  wounded  by  the  British  hospital  service. 

"It's  a  disgrace,  Mr.  Ferguson,"  he  broke  out 
one  day.  "I've  seen  fifty  men,  sick  and  half- 
dying,  waiting  for  medical  attention  in  the  open 
sun,  because  there  were  no  hospital  accommoda- 
tions for  them.  What's  England  about?"  And 
he  repeated,  "It's  a  positive  disgrace  and  a  rotten 
shame!" 

"I'm  afraid  you're  dead  right,"  the  transport 
expert  replied,  "although  you're  not  half  as  much 
worked  up  about  it  as  the  army  chiefs  themselves. 
And  as  for  the  doctors, — why,  the  hospital  serv- 
ice, such  of  it  as  there  is  here,  is  working  about 
twenty  hours  a  day." 

"But  why?"  asked  David.     "I  always  under- 


254      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

stood  that  it  was  in  the  medical  end  that  modern 
war  had  come  to  be  so  up-to-date.  It  isn't  here. 
What's  the  reason?" 

Ferguson  tilted  his  battered  sun-helmet  on  the 
back  of  his  head. 

"I  asked  the  Commanding  Medical  Officer  about 
that  one  day, ' '  he  said,  ' '  and  he  laid  all  the  blame 
on  India.  You  see,  David,  the  first  detachment  of 
troops  that  was  sent  to  Mesopotamia  came  from 
India,  but  it  wasn't  sent  until  after  India  had 
been  drawn  on  for  troops  for  Gallipoli,  troops  for 
Egypt  and  troops  for  German  East  Africa. 
Their  Medical  Service  was  all  right.  We  got  the 
leavings.  Moreover,  a  few  years  ago,  India 
started  on  a  system  of  rigid  economy,  and  while 
the  supplies  on  hand  were  ample  for  all  ordinary 
contingencies,  no  one  ever  expected  that  the  whole 
Eastern  world  would  burst  into  flame. 

"  Besides  that,  the  original  intention,  as  you 
know,  was  only  to  take  Basra  and  hold  the  Shatt- 
el-Arab  so  as  to  make  sure  and  control  the  oil- 
pipe  line  and  to  keep  the  Turks  and  Germans 
from  getting  control  of  the  Persian  Gulf.  The 
Medical  Service  was  all  right  for  that,  since  all 
serious  cases  would  be  shipped  back  to  hospitals 
in  the  hill  country  of  India.  But,  with  every  Brit- 


THE  BLACKEST  DAY  255 

ish  success,  the  big  chiefs  in  England  and  India 
got  eager  for  more  successes  and  pushed  the 
troops  farther  and  farther  up  the  river.  It's  a 
piece  of  dog-gone  foolishness — "  this  was  an  old 
grudge  of  Ferguson's — "for  if  they  stretch  the 
transport  much  farther  it's  going  to  be  like  a 
piece  of  elastic  that's  yanked  too  far.  It'll  snap, 
and — "  he  paused  significantly,  "it'll  be  the  deuce 
an'  all  to  mend!" 

"It's  too  bad — "  David  began,  but  the  other 
continued. 

"No  one  has  any  idea  of  this  climate,"  he  said. 
"You  can  write  about  it  all  you  like,  and  cuss  all 
you  know  how,  and  the  authorities  can  send  it 
medical  reports.  That  doesn't  do  any  good. 
There  isn't  anybody  who  has  enough  gift  of 
language  to  describe  it.  Take  the  worst  bit  of 
the  battle-field  in  Europe,  and  this  campaign  here 
requires  twice  as  much  hospital  attention  as  that 
— even  without  any  fighting.  War  is  war,  of 
course,  but  in  common  humanity  to  both  sides,  a 
truce  ought  to  be  declared  during  the  summer 
months.  Killing  thousands  of  men  from  heat 
and  exhaustion  doesn't  do  either  side  any  good, 
so  far  as  I  can  see.  I  call  it  murder!" 

In  spite  of  the  execrable  transport  and  hospital 


256     WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

situation,  the  British  government  was  unable  to 
resist  the  temptation  of  pushing  on.  As  before, 
the  principal  reason  for  this  urgency  was  the 
utter  failure  of  the  Gallipoli  campaign  and  the 
weakness  shown  in  England's  half-hearted  at- 
tempt -to  aid  Serbia  from  the  Salonica  base.  A 
third  reason  was  Germany's  counter-advance  into 
Russia.  These  three  things  combined  were  cal- 
culated -to  make  Turkey  feel  that  the  British  were 
but  a  feeble  foe  and  that  victory  would  ultimately 
follow  the  German  standards. 

In  Mesopotamia,  on  the  other  hand,  with  a  piti- 
fully small  force,  success  had  been  continuous. 
The  Turks  had  not  had  one  victory  to  their  credit, 
not  even  the  smallest  skirmish.  Therefore,  the 
British  figured,  it  would  be  wise  to  press  on  to 
Bagdad  in  order  to  restore  the  waning  prestige 
of  England  in  the  East.  In  any  case,  the  move 
to  Kut-el-Amara,  generally  known  simply  as  Kut, 
was  decided  upon. 

The  original  occupation  of  Kut  happened  in  a 
very  curious  way.  General  Townshend,  still  sup- 
ported by  his  * '  regatta ' '  or  flotilla  of  absurd  river 
craft,  though  now  somewhat  strengthened  by 
river  steamers  from  the  Indian  rivers,  pushed  up 
from  Amara.  He  stormed  and  took — not  with- 


THE  BLACKEST  DAY  257 

out  a  sharp  fight — the  fortified  post  of  Abu  Ram- 
maneh — and  found  the  Turks  strongly  fortified 
half  a  mile  below  Kut.  There  the  Turks  settled 
down  to  battle  and  defended  the  place  obstinately. 

It  was  about  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon 
when  the  first  gun  was  fired.  The  heat  was  in- 
tense. The  men  were  exhausted,  thirsty  and 
pestered  with  sand-flies.  Townshend,  however, 
took  comfort  in  the  thought  that  the  sun  was  just 
as  hot  for  the  Turks  and  the  sand-flies  equally 
annoying.  He  opened  fire  from  the  gunboats, 
while  batteries,  hastily  set  ashore,  took  up  their 
share. 

The  attack  looked  more  threatening  than  it  was. 
The  British  general  was  painfully  aware  of  the 
fact  that  he  had  no  reserves  to  support  him  in 
case  of  a  check,  no  means  of  covering  a  retreat. 
His  lines  of  communication  behind  him  had  been 
thinned  beyond  the  danger  point.  He  did  not 
dare  to  be  too  liberal  with  his  ammunition,  for 
Amara  was  180  miles  away.  As  the  sun  slowly 
began  to  approach  the  western  horizon,  the  shell- 
ing died  down. 

In  the  meantime,  a  British  column,  which  had 
been  fighting  on  the  outer  flank  and  which  had 
been  marching  since  noon  through  desert  country, 


258      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

without  any  water  save  that  which  they  had  taken 
in  their  canteens,  began  'to  close  in  toward  the 
river,  to  get  in  touch  with  the  main  body.  Sud- 
denly, and  quite  unexpectedly,  they  found  them- 
selves closing  in  upon  a  large  force  of  Turkish 
infantry. 

Their  commanding  officer  knew  the  military 
value  of  surprise  and  shock.  Almost  without 
hesitation,  he  wheeled  his  men  full  at  the  foe,  with 
bayonets  fixed.  The  Turks  took  cover  in  a  dry, 
deep  water-cut  and  opened  a  devastating  fire. 
The  British  suffered  horribly.  The  ranks  were 
cut  down  by  a  third.  Yet  the  remaining  two- 
thirds  never  slackened  speed  and  plunged  down 
into  the  natural  trench. 

Convinced  that  such  a  daring  attack  could  only 
imply  that  this  column  was  but  a  first  line  and 
that  a  second  line  was  following  on  the  heels  of  it, 
the  Turkish  officers  gave  the  order  to  retreat. 
Part  of  the  Turks  set  off  at  a  tangent,  and  ran 
into  some  British  machine-gun  companies  who 
were  getting  ready  for  supper.  The  Tommies 
dropped  their  mugs  and,  jumping  to  the  guns, 
started  the  murderous  tattoo  which  means  an 
array  of  mouths  of  belching  death. 

Darting  off  from  this,  the  Turks  came  within 


THE  BLACKEST  DAY  259 

line  of  the  few  shells  still  dropping  from  the  gun- 
boats. Convinced  that  the  British  were  round 
them  and  on  every  side,  the  retreat  became  a 
flight  and  then  a  rout.  Late  though  it  was, 
Townshend  seized  the  opportunity,  renewed  the 
attack,  pursued  the  Turks  far  into  the  night  with 
relentless  vigor,  and  an  advance  guard  occupied 
Kut. 

And  David,  still  adding  to  his  knowledge  as  a 
pilot,  and  now  feeling  himself  almost  a  part  of  the 
advancing  army,  steered  his  camouflaged  steamer 
up  to  Kut. 

Appetite  grows  by  feeding.  The  capture  of 
Kut  made  the  British  Government  hungry  for 
more,  and  it  called  for  an  advance  on  Bagdad. 
General  Townshend  saw  the  danger  and  replied, 

"Unless  great  risk  is  to  be  run,  it  is,  in  my 
opinion,  absolutely  necessary  that  the  advance 
from  Kut  should  be  carried  out  methodically  by 
two  divisions  or  one  army  corps,  exclusive  of  the 
garrisons  of  the  important  places  of  Nazariyeh, 
Ahwaz  and  Amara. " 

England  urged  the  advantage  of  advance  and 
promised  troops. 

Sir  John  Nixon,  on  receipt  of  news  that  another 
division  was  on  its  way  from  France,  wired : 


26o      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

"Am  strong  enough  to  open  road  to  Bagdad  and 
with  this  intention  propose  to  concentrate  at 
Aziziyeh. ' ' 

Townshend  had  already  pushed  cavalry  to  the 
latter  place  to  protect  his  advance  at  Kut. 

England  then  asked  Nixon  if  he  could  capture 
Bagdad.  The  Commander-in-Chief  replied  that 
he  would  need  at  least  an  additional  division  and 
an  extra  regiment  of  cavalry.  This  was  over  and 
above  the  division  from  France.  As  Nixon  saw, 
it  is  one  thing  to  open  the  road  to  a  powerfully 
garrisoned  stronghold,  and  another  to  take  it,  espe- 
cially with  so  many  natural  obstacles  to  overcome. 

Then  came  the  Gallipoli  tragedy  of  Suvla  Bay, 
when  mismanagement  and  a  reckless  disregard  of 
life  cost  the  British  tens  of  thousands  of  the  most 
gallant  soldiers  that  ever  appeared  on  the  field  of 
battle.  The  General  commanding  was  recalled  in 
disgrace  and  the  Gallipoli  campaign,  shortly  after- 
wards, was  abandoned.  Suvla  Bay  had  one 
striking  effect  on  the  Mesopotamian  campaign, 
for  the  Secretary  of  State  for  India  wired  to  the 
Viceroy : 

"Owing  to  prospects  in  Gallipoli,  we  have  great 
need  of  a  striking  success  in  the  East." 

The  Viceroy  replied  that,  in  that  case,  it  was 


THE  BLACKEST  DAY  261 

his  judgment  that  the  risk  of  the  Bagdad  cam- 
paign should  be  taken. 

On  October  31,  the  Secretary  of  State  for  India 
cabled : 

"If  Nixon  is  satisfied  that  the  force  he  has  is 
sufficient,  he  may  march  on  Bagdad." 

Sir  John  Nixon  was  by  no  means  satisfied.  He 
had  asked  for  three  divisions  and  had  received 
less  than  one;  he  had  demanded  river  transport 
and  had  not  got  it;  he  had  insisted  on  hospital 
supplies,  and  these,  too,  were  lacking. 

General  Townshend  was  still  less  satisfied.  He 
wrote  to  the  Viceroy : 

"These  troops  of  mine  are  tired  and  their  tails 
are  not  up,  but  slightly  down ;  the  Mohammedans 
are  not  pleased  at  approaching  the  sacred  pre- 
cincts of  Suliman  Pak  at  Ctesiphon — the  troops 
are  not  confident  and  have  had  enough;  as  it  is 
now,  the  British  soldier  and  the  Sepoy,  as  the 
Roman  soldier  did  under  Belisarius,  look  over 
their  shoulders  and  are  fearful  of  the  distance 
from  the  sea,  and  go  down,  in  consequence,  with 
every  imaginable  disease. ' ' 

Every  one  on  the  ground  knew  the  danger,  but 
the  political  urgency  was  allowed  to  take  prece- 
dence over  the  military  risk. 

From  Kut  to  Bagdad  it  is  212  miles  by  river 


262      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

though  only  112  by  land,  a  sufficient  testimony  to 
the  crookedness  of  that  malignant  stream.  Two 
hundred  miles  of  added  transport  on  a  river  of 
uncertain  temper,  over  the  very  section  of  it  which 
is  most  filled  with  shallows,  was  a  terrific  menace 
to  the  success  of  the  campaign. 

"If  it  wasn't  just  at  the  very  minute  of  the 
lowest  water  in  the  year,"  Ferguson  declared  with 
disgust,  "it  wouldn't  be  so  bad.  Why  can't  those 
John  Bull  politicians  wait  a  month,  anyhow  ?  The 
rains '11  have  come  by  then  and  the  river '11  have 
some  water  in  it.  A  beetle  wouldn  't  find  room  for 
his  legs  if  he  wanted  to  swim  across  it  now ! ' ' 

Which  was  somewhat  of  an  exaggeration, 
though  true  that  there  were  many  places  above 
Kut  where  two  and  a  half  feet  was  the  maximum 
depth  in  the  main  channel. 

Townshend  had  done  the  most  that  a  good  sol- 
dier could  do.  He  had  protested.  He  could  not 
do  more  without  refusing  and  being  recalled  for 
disobedience  to  orders.  His  only  hope  lay  in  such 
speed  as  could  be  managed.  Since  he  had  no  re- 
serves, no  transport  worthy  of  the  name,  no  depth 
of  water  in  the  river  even  if  he  had  the  boats,  and 
no  supply  base,  he  must  get  to  Bagdad  before  the 


THE  BLACKEST  DAY  263 

Turkish  reinforcements  from  Mosul  reached  the 
place. 

David  was  pining  to  go  along,  for  this  would  be 
the  first  advance  in  which  he  had  not  taken  part, 
a  minor  part,  indeed,  but  still  a  part.  But,  for 
this  advance,  even  Ferguson  was  left  behind. 

"A  pilot  isn't  any  use  in  a  puddle  where  a  mud- 
turtle  would  strand,"  was  Ferguson's  aggrieved 
manner  of  stating  to  David  the  official  order  that 
they  would  not  be  needed  to  accompany  the  ex- 
pedition. 

After  a  weary  march  from  Aziziyeh,  Towns- 
hend's  troops  reached  the  first  Turkish  defenses 
at  Laj,  a  short  distance  below  Ctesiphon,  where 
the  old  Parthian  capital  was  built,  twelve  cen- 
turies ago,  and  where  the  Great  Arch  still  stands, 
one  of  the  most  grimly  isolated  ruins  of  Western 
Asia.  On  November  21,  the  enemy  position  was 
attacked  and  the  enemy  was  dislodged,  the  Turks 
falling  back  in  good  order  on  Ctesiphon. 

The  British  halted.  It  had  been  a  victory,  but 
a  costly  one,  too  costly  for  safety  with  no  reserves 
behind. 

Townshend  was  only  twenty-two  miles  from 
Bagdad. 


264      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

"That  evening,"  wrote  an  officer,  who  was 
wounded  in  the  great  battle  next  day,  "there  was 
a  particularly  red  sunset,  and  for  the  first  time  we 
saw  the  Arch  of  Ctesiphon  standing  up  against  the 
glow.  It  was  about  seven  miles  away,  and  behind 
some  of  the  positions  which  we  knew  to  be  occu- 
pied by  the  Turks.  The  whole  country  was  lit  up. 
What  portent  would  the  Komans  have  made  of 
such  a  blood-red  sky  before  a  battle !  Then  dark- 
ness fell  with  the  swiftness  of  the  East  and  the 
great  Arch  was  blotted  out. 

"At  about  eight  o'clock  we  fell  in  for  our  night 
march  across  the  desert  to  the  dry  water-channel, 
which  was  to  be  our  post  in  the  battle,  almost  the 
only  form  of  natural  cover  in  these  surroundings. 
A  November  night  in  Mesopotamia  is  a  chilly 
business,  and  khaki,  however  comfortable  under 
the  rays  of  the  midday  sun,  is  a  poor  protection 
against  cold. 

"We  started  in  three  long  columns  about  300 
yards  apart.  It  was  a  cloudless  night  and  a 
bright  moon  lighted  us  on  our  way.  We  marched, 
of  course,  in  silence — a  silence  that  was  only 
broken  by  the  squeaking  of  cart  or  gun  wheels 
and  the  occasional  clink  of  a  tin  mug  or  a  bayonet. 
.  .  .  By  four  o  'clock  we  had  reached  the  dry  wady 


THE  BLACKEST  DAY  265 

which  was  our  destination.  It  was  still  dark  when 
we  arrived  and  I  climbed  on  the  top  of  the  canal 
bank,  about  twenty  feet  high,  to  have  a  look  at 
the  country  round.  In  the  direction  of  the  Turk- 
ish lines  I  could  see  six  or  seven  big  bonfires 
burning ;  what  they  were  for,  I  never  heard. 

"The  bank  of  the  water-channel,  while  provid- 
ing excellent  cover  from  view,  would  not  have  pro- 
tected us  properly  from  shell-fire,  so  we  started 
to  dig  ourselves  in.  By  daybreak  we  were  safely 
entrenched  and  could  hear  a  good  deal  of  gun  and 
rifle  fire  going  on  to  south  of  us.  ... 

"At  last,  at  nine  o'clock,  the  order  came  for  us 
to  come  out  of  our  water-channel  and  form  up. 

"From  the  top  of  the  bank  we  had  a  wonderful 
view  of  the  whole  position.  To  the  southwest, 
and  now  no  more  than  four  miles  away,  was  the 
Arch  of  Ctesiphon.  Around  it,  the  whole  plain, 
as  far  as  eye  could  see,  was  dotted  with  troops  in 
various  formations.  To  the  north  we  could  ob- 
serve squadrons  of  Turkish  cavalry. 

"We  moved  off  in  artillery  formation,  but  after 
about  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  a  few  bullets  began 
to  flick  up  the  dust  around  us.  So  we  extended  in 
long  line  and  in  a  few  minutes  the  ball  opened 
with  the  unwelcome  attention  of  some  Turkish 


266      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

shrapnel.  ...  On  the  plains  were  a  number  of 
still  forms  lying  about,  showing  the  tracks  of  the 
Brigade. 

"Our  objective,  the  Vital  Point,  was  now  dis- 
tinctly visible,  a  sandy  mound  about  thirty  feet 
high,  surrounded  by  a  maze  of  wire  entangle- 
ments. As  we  advanced  to  within  about  six  hun- 
dred yards  of  the  trenches  it  became  clear  that  the 
firing  line  had  reached  its  final  fire  position.  A 
concentrated  gun  fire  was  turned  on  the  mound, 
and  a  rain  of  shells  fell  on  it,  churning  up  the 
sand  and  giving  it  the  appearance  of  a  boiling 
cauldron.  There  was  a  rush  and  a  roar  of  cheer- 
ing and  the  Brigade  bundled  the  Turks  out  of  their 
trenches.  .  .  . 

"We  advanced  in  short  rushes.  When  we  had 
got  half-way  to  the  enemy  guns,  we  spotted  a 
trench  full  of  Turks.  ...  So  we  fixed  our  bayon- 
ets and  on  arriving  within  200  yards  got  the  signal 
to  charge.  Luckily  they  had  not  put  any  wire  out, 
and  after  a  breathless  run  I  found  myself  standing 
on  the  parapet.  Inside  the  trench  were  a  fair 
number  of  Turks  .  .  .  who  surrendered.  .  .  .  We 
then  pushed  on  towards  the  guns  which  had  been 
abandoned  by  the  enemy. 

"No   sooner   had  we   reached   them  than   the 


THE  BLACKEST  DAY  267 

Turks  began  to  plaster  the  place  with  shrapnel 
from  other  guns,  placed  farther  back.  So  un- 
healthy did  the  position  become  that  we  pushed 
on  beyond  our  captures  to  upset  the  Turkish 
ranging.  Our  advance,  however,  threw  our  left 
flank  in  the  air,  so  there  was  nothing  for  it  but  to 
halt. 

"We  lay  down,  of  course,  and  opened  fire  on 
some  Turks  whom  we  could  see  running  about  in 
a  desultory  way  to  our  front.  In  about  a  quarter 
of  an  hour  we  were  greatly  surprised'  to  see  them 
coming  towards  us  over  a  slight  ri3e  only  about 
eight  hundred  yards  away. 

"Evidently  this  was  the  counter-attack.  A  tre- 
mendous fire  duel  opened  on  both  sides  and  must 
have  lasted  an  hour  and  a  half.  Our  rifles  got  so 
heated  that  the  grease  began  to  bubble  out  of  the 
woodwork  and  the  sights  became  too  hot  to  touch. 
The  enemy  brought  up  two  machine-guns  and  con- 
centrated their  attention  on  our  exposed  left  flank, 
so  that  we  had  to  pivot  our  line  round  half  left  to 
meet  them. 

"Things  were  getting  serious,  as  our  ammuni- 
tion was  running  short.  All  our  mules  had  been 
killed  by  shrapnel  fire  and  all  fresh  supplies  had 
to  be  brought  up  to  us  on  men's  shoulders,  no 


268      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

light  job  when  the  distance  is  considered. 
Moreover,  our  exposed  left  flank  was  in  continual 
danger  and  it  looked  very  much  as  if  we  would  be 
cut  off. 

"It  was  a  bitter  moment  when  we  were  ordered 
to  retire  and  to  leave  the  guns  we  had  captured; 
left,  however,  they  had  to  be,  as  we  had  no  means 
of  taking  them  away. 

"  Having  got  back  a  bit  we  halted,  formed  a 
fresh  line,  and  began  again  to  advance.  .  .  .  "We 
were  approaching  the  Turkish  guns  once  more. 
Again,  however,  the  enemy  brought  up  a  heavy 
counter-attack  against  our  flank,  and  we  had  no 
alternative  but  to  go  back  500  yards  and  re-form 
for  a  fresh  advance.  The  time  was  about  3 :30  p. 
MV  and  this  was  our  third  attempt  to  make  good 
this  part  of  the  line.  It  was  also,  so  far  as  I  was 
concerned,  the  last.  ...  I  felt  a  sudden  shock  like 
an  explosion.  .  .  .  My  right  arm  had  collapsed 
across  my  face.  ..."  The  writer  had  a  horrible 
time  getting  back  to  a  dressing-station,  and  his 
wounds  took  long  to  heal. 

This  officer 's  story  of  a  portion  of  the  battle  of 
Ctesiphon  was  typical  of  the  whole  terrible  con- 
flict. The  British  and  Indian  troops,  compelled  to 
advance  over  a  flat  tract  giving  little  or  no  cover, 


THE  BLACKEST  DAY  269 

in  the  approach  to  the  first  Turkish  line,  lost 
heavily.  That,  however,  did  not  shake  them,  it 
added  fuel  to  their  fury.  After  a  sharp  struggle 
in  the  trenches  with  the  bayonet,  the  Turks  broke. 
The  remnant  bolted  for  their  second  line,  a  mile  to 
the  rear,  the  attackers  close  at  their  heels.  The 
wreck  of  the  flying  Turks  and  the  van  of  the 
attacking  column  entered  the  second  line  together. 
The  second  line  also  was  broken  and  the  attack 
swooped  on  to  the  batteries  behind  it.  Eight  of 
the  Turkish  guns  speedily  fell  into  the  assailants' 
hands.  It  looked  as  though,  after  all,  the  battle 
would  end  in  a  victory. 

Then  the  Turkish  reinforcements  came,  in  the 
nick  of  time  for  the  enemy.  Townshend  now 
faced  two  to  one,  and  his  troops  were  utterly 
wearied.  Against  the  newcomers,  they  could  not 
hold  the  breach  in  the  Turks'  second  line.  The 
struggle  was  obstinate  and  bitter,  but  finally, 
weight  of  numbers  told.  Little  by  little  the  Brit- 
ish were  pushed  out  and  they  retired  sullenly  upon 
the  Turks'  first  line.  The  night  was  spent  in 
deepening  and  " turning  round"  the  trench  sys- 
tem against  the  enemy. 

But  Townshend  was  in  a  terrible  trap.  The 
number  of  wounded  was  appalling.  The  losses, 


270      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

due  to  the  battle  being  in  the  open,  had  been  heavy. 
Shrapnel  had  been  freely  employed  and  the  char- 
acter of  the  wounds  was  ghastly.  The  chill  of  the 
November  night  and  the  burning  glare  of  next 
morning's  sun  bred  fever  and  delirium  even  in  the 
slightly  wounded. 

The  transport  system,  practically  impossible 
because  of  the  shallow  water  in  the  river,  became 
utterly  choked  by  the  evacuation  of  the  wounded. 
Supplies  could  not  be  brought  up  and  the  wounded 
taken  care  of  at  the  same  time.  The  losses  even 
of  Townshend  's  meager  force  had  been  3,500  men. 

And,  even  in  Kut,  there  were  but  900  beds,  many 
of  them  already  filled ! 

"  Townshend 's  little  army,"  says  Dane,1  "set 
out  on  its  retreat  from  Ctesiphon  in  the  night,  on 
November  25.  The  Turks  at  once  closed  in.  The 
retreating  column  set  a  pace  which  the  Turkish 
troops  found  it  hard  to  keep  up. 

"On  scanty  and  insufficient  food  snatched  in 
hasfe,  with  nothing  more  than  brief  intervals  of 
sleep,  unwashed,  footsore,  the  retiring  column 
tramped  on,  the  boom  of  guns  where  the  rear- 

i  "British   Campaigns  in  the  Near   East,    1914-1918,"   by  Ed- 
mund Dane   (Hodder  A  Stoughton). 


THE  BLACKEST  DAY  271 

guard  was  in  action  perpetually  in  each  man's 
ears. 

"One  toilsome  day  across  the  monotonous  soli- 
tude followed  another. 

"Night  fell  and  dog-tired  men  threw  themselves 
down  beside  their  bivouac  fires  to  rise  almost 
more  weary  than  before.  But  marvelously  few 
fell  out. 

"The  camp  fires  flickered  upon  faces  set  and 
grimy,  but  they  were  those  of  men  who,  knowing 
that  they  had  done  great  deeds  of  arms,  were  con- 
fident of  themselves,  and,  despite  adversity,  con- 
fident in  their  commander." 

In  the  retreat,  moreover,  the  flotilla,  loaded 
down  with  wounded,  became  entangled  in  the 
shallows  of  the  river.  Light  gunboats  were  sent 
up  to  try  and  tow  the  barges,  but  the  gunboats 
stranded.  The  Firefly  was  disabled  by  a  shell. 
The  Comet  grounded  and  had  to  be  abandoned. 

The  retreating  column  marched  on.  Halts  had 
to  be  lengthened,  stages  shortened.  The  men 
staggered  rather  than  walked.  No  one  spoke  to 
his  neighbor.  The  shortened  panting  breaths 
rose  higher  than  the  clink  of  accouterments.  Al- 
most comatose  with  exhaustion,  the  men  re- 


272      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

sponded  jerkily,  like  automata,  to  orders  of  com- 
mand. At  length,  on  the  eighth  day,  the  slender 
minaret  of  the  solitary  mosque  of  Kut  rose  above 
the  distant  horizon. 

David,  sitting  down  to  breakfast  on  the  2nd  of 
December,  heard,  borne  on  the  north  wind,  a  dis- 
tant, 

'  'Boom!    Boom!    Boom!" 

Guns! 

All  the  tales  and  burdens  of  disaster  which  had 
come  down  on  the  few  barges  which  had  drifted 
down,  bearing  wounded,  found  voice  in  the  distant 
menace.  It  needed  no  imagination  to  picture 
what  a  retreat  that  must  have  been  for  sixty 
miles,  if  still  pressed  with  a  mile  or  two  of  Kut. 

"Boom!" 

David  ran  out,  his  breakfast  all  untasted. 
Then,  out  of  the  dusty  distance  he  saw  a  body  of 
men  retreating.  A  mounted  officer  galloped  on  in 
advance,  stammering  the  woeful  tidings  and 
begging  that  food  might  be  ready. 

Food! 

Every  one  in  Kut  set  out  what  victuals  were 
ready.  The  mess  kitchens  were  driven  to  utmost 
speed,  and  as  the  men  rolled  in,  many  too  tired  to 
reach  their  allotted  places,  they  swallowed  a 


THE  BLACKEST  DAY  273 

morsel  of  meat  or  a  plate  of  soup  and  sank  down 
on  the  ground  in  stuporous  sleep. 

The  Turk  came  closer,  closer.  To  north,  to 
west,  to  east,  and  finally  to  south,  the  encircling 
ring  gripped  nearer  and  nearer. 

The  desert  ways  were  shut. 

Along  the  marshes  there  was  left  no  way. 

The  river  rolled  by  silently,  with  barriers  up 
stream  and  down,  lit  by  rows  of  camp-fires,  where 
unsleeping  Turkish  sentries  watched. 

Caught !     Trapped !    Besieged ! 

The  terrific  ordeal  of  Kut-el-Amara  had  begun 
and  David  was  in  the  midst  of  it. 


CHAPTER  VIH 

THE  DAWN  OP  BBVENGB 

So  began  the  siege  of  Kut,  practically  the  only 
siege  of  the  Great  War. 

So  soon  as  the  men  recovered  from  their  grind- 
ing fatigue,  measures  were  taken  for  the  defense 
of  Kut.  The  little  town  of  5,000  inhabitants  con- 
sisted of  an  extended  water-front,  half  a  mile  in 
length.  At  right  angles  to  the  river  were  a  series 
of  streets,  parallel  connecting  streets  being  few 
and  far  between. 

There  were  only  two  large  buildings,  the  Turk- 
ish " Serai"  with  its  roomy  barrack  square,  head- 
quarters officers  and  flagstaff,  and  the  mosque 
with  lofty  minaret,  topped  by  its  turquoise  dome. 
There  were  two  bazaars,  both  covered  in  by 
matting  spread  over  wooded  rafters,  shady  ar- 
cades in  summer,  though  full  of  a  thousand  smells 
and  a-reek  from  perspiration,  but  in  winter,  dirty, 
muddy,  squalid,  and  foul. 

The  town  contained  about  twenty  well-built  two- 


Australian  Official  Photo. 

FROM  RAILHEAD  TO  FIGHTING  LINK. 

The  camel  transports  had  to  travel  over  naked  sand,  absolutely  without 
cover,  often  under  direct  shell-fire. 


THE  DAWN  OF  REVENGE       275 

story  brick  houses,  all  built  four-square  around  an 
inner  court,  upon  which  opened  rooms  with  bal- 
conies, and  in  one  corner  tne  winding  stairway  to 
the  roof.  In  the  middle  of  each  courtyard  was 
the  drain  and  cesspool.  All  the  rooms,  therefore, 
faced  the  smell.  The  poorer  houses  were  but  mud 
hovels,  several  built  around  a  single  courtyard  en- 
closed by  an  encircling  wall.  In  the  center  was 
the  cesspool  for  all  the  hovels  with  a  mud  oven 
beside  it,  common  to  the  community. 

Just  beyond  the  streets,  but  still  within  the 
horseshoe  curve  of  the  river,  was  Kut's  rubbish 
heap,  covered  with  refuse  and  dead  and  living 
dogs  all  mixed  up.  Beyond  this  was  the  grave- 
yard. Beyond  this,  again,  came  the  brick  kilns, 
and  these  were  used  as  the  inner  line  of  defense 
by  the  British.  The  outer  line  was  a  deep  trench 
system,  well  protected  by  barbed  wire,  across  the 
neck  of  the  bend,  or  the  points  of  the  horse- 
shoe. 

On  December  9  the  Turks  made  a  determined 
attack  on  Kut,  attacking  the  river  front  rather 
than  the  land  defenses.  A  vigorous  rush  was 
made  to  carry  the  bridge  of  boats  which  spanned 
the  river  from  Kut  to  the  little  mud  village  of 
Woolpress,  across  the  stream.  The  attempt  was 


276      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

gallantly  beaten  off,  but  seeing  that  it  was  certain 
to  be  renewed  and  tha :  the  post  at  the  Woolpress 
end  had  been  driven  in,  Townshend  decided  to 
blow  the  shore  attachments  of  the  structure  at  the 
farther  end,  so  that  the  bridge  might  be  swung  by 
the  current  to  the  Kut  side  of  the  river.  It  was 
urgent  to  prevent  the  enemy  seizing  the  boats  and 
other  material. 

Two  British  officers  volunteered.  It  would 
have  been  easy  to  cross  the  bridge  on  foot,  but, 
even  in  the  dark  of  night,  the  Turkish  sentries 
were  watching  closely.  Therefore  the  river  had 
to  be  swum,  no  easy  matter,  for  the  river  is  250 
yards  wide  at  this  point  and  the  current  was  over 
four  miles  an  hour.  There  could  be  no  landing 
on  the  other  side,  for  every  foot  was  occupied  by 
the  Turks.  The  two  officers  must  stay  in  the 
water  until  the  charge  of  explosives  was  laid  and 
then  fire  it. 

David  was  on  the  rough  wharf,  near  the  bridge, 
watching,  for  Ferguson  had  told  him  of  the  ven- 
ture. It  was  an  exciting  wait,  after  the  two  men 
had  slipped  into  the  water.  Ten  good  minutes 
passed.  Then  the  dark  was  split  apart  with  a 
vivid  flash,  followed  by  a  sullen  roar,  and  in  the 
moment  of  flash  the  bridge  could  be  seen  to  heave. 


THE  DAWN  OF  REVENGE       277 

Then  darkness  came  again,  but  not  for  more  than 
half  a  minute,  when,  from  the  other  side  of  the 
bank,  first  a  score  and  then  a  hundred  little  spurts 
of  flame,  followed  by  a  sharp  crackling,  told  that 
the  Turks  were  firing  blindly  in  all  directions  in 
the  hope  of  hitting  the  daring  heroes.  David 
ducked  behind  a  trench,  glad  that  there  was  one 
handy.  The  two  officers,  both  of  whom  were 
accomplished  swimmers,  had  swum  most  of  the 
way  back  under  water,  just  coming  up  for  air. 
Both  returned  safely.  The  bridge  swung  back 
to  the  Kut  side,  free  from  enemy  attack. 

Angered  by  the  success  of  this  exploit,  on  the 
next  day  the  Turks  set  themselves  desperately  to 
take  the  town.  All  day  long  they  strove.  Though 
beaten  back  with  heavy  loss,  they  made  no  less 
than  five  desperate  assaults. 

It  was  well  that  General  Townshend  had  set 
every  man  who  could  be  spared  to  make  trenches 
and  dug-outs.  Also,  at  that  time,  there  had  been 
no  question  of  saving  ammunition,  and  a  week  of 
good  feeding  had  put  back  heart  into  the  men. 
The  strength  of  a  trench  does  not  lie  in  the  sand- 
bags only,  but,  especially  when  there  is  a  charge, 
its  strength  lies  in  the  spirit  of  the  men  who  hold 
it.  The  Turks  had  guns,  but  they  did  not  have 


278      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

the  heavy  guns  of  the  western  front.  Shelling  did 
not  destroy  the  trenches,  and  charges  were  too 
costly.  The  Turkish  assaults  slackened. 

"Christmas  approached,"  says  Dane,  "and  out- 
side headquarters  nothing  more  definite  was  to 
be  gleaned  than  rumors.  The  enemy's  bursts  of 
fire  in  his  opinion  evidently  had  not  had  the  de- 
sired effect  of  causing  the  besieged  to  waste  their 
ammunition.  Acting  on  the  counsel  of  their  Gen- 
eral, they  'husbanded  it  like  gold.'  Realizing 
that  the  blockade  was  likely  to  be  prolonged; 
anxious  to  push  in  force  down  the  river  before 
the  British  could  finally  and  firmly  establish  their 
footing  in  the  country,  and  fearing,  that,  if  held, 
Kut  would  finally  be  relieved,  the  enemy,  having 
brought  up  another  division  of  reinforcements, 
once  more  essayed  a  storming  enterprise. 

"It  was  preceded  on  December  23  by  a  great 
bombardment.  Every  gun  of  the  Turkish  forces 
on  both  sides  of  the  river  was  put  into  action. 
This  general  shelling,  of  course,  was  intended  to 
mask  the  point  of  the  attack  on  December  24, 
which  it  was  known  would  be  the  sequel.  The 
point  of  attack  proved  to  be  the  fort  (an  old 
Turkish  fort,  which  the  British  had  included  in 
their  line  of  defense).  By  a  concentration  of 


279 

guns  upon  it,  the  bastion  had  been  breached,  and 
though  to  a  certain  extent  the  breach  had  been 
offset  by  wiring  in,  the  enemy  threw  forward 
what  he  no  doubt  judged  to  be  an  overwhelming 
column  of  some  6,000  infantry. 

"They  pressed  onward  in  the  face  of  a  most 
withering  fire,  and,  although  the  losses  were  most 
severe,  and  hundreds  perished  upon  the  wire,  the 
others  swarmed  through  the  breach  and  into  the 
bastion,  carried  by  the  impetus  of  numbers. 

"The  British  batteries,  however,  were  in  turn 
focussed  on  the  work  and  its  mud  walls  crumbled 
into  ruins.  In  the  gap  beyond  it  was  found  that 
the  defenders  had  built  up  an  inner  breastwork. 

"The  Turks  tried  to  rush  it.  They  tried  again 
and  again.  Time  and  again  it  came  to  a  struggle 
at  close  quarters,  only,  however,  yet  again  to 
prove  that  the  Turk  was  no  match  for  the  veterans 
of  the  Indian  Army  with  the  bayonet. 

"Meanwhile,  efforts  had  been  made  to  scale  the 
walls  of  the  main  fort,  men  climbing  on  each 
other's  shoulders,  or  using  short  ladders.  No- 
where could  a  footing  be  established. 

*  *  In  the  midst  of  this  deadly  conflict  the  guns  on 
both  sides  were  busy  and  squalls  of  shrapnel 
lashed  assailants  and  defenders  alike. 


280      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

"The  defense,  which  was  magnificent,  finally 
triumphed.  So  magnificent  was  it,  indeed,  and  so 
severe  this  time  had  been  the  lesson  that  this  was 
the  last  endeavor  to  take  Kut  by  assault.  In  and 
around  the  ruins  of  the  bastion  and  the  walls  of 
the  main  fort,  the  enemy's  dead  lay  everywhere. 
The  Turkish  losses  in  this,  for  them  a  disastrous 
affair,  were  some  2,000  men. ' ' 

David  had  been  anxious  to  take  part  in  the 
battle  and  on  one  occasion,  indeed,  had  snatched 
up  a  rifle  from  a  soldier  who  was  staggering  back 
through  the  city  to  a  dressing-station.  Ferguson, 
however,  saw  this  action  and  called  him  back  with 
a  stentorian  hail. 

"You'd  be  more  nuisance  than  you're  worth," 
he  said  emphatically.  "Modern  war  is  a  matter 
of  discipline,  not  of  individual  action.  If  you're 
pining  to  do  something,  get  down  to  the  base  hos- 
pital, and  help  the  orderlies.  The  work  will  be 
mucky  and  nasty,  but  it's  the  most  useful  thing 
you  can  do." 

•  David's  gorge  rather  rose  at  the  idea.  It  was 
the  heroic  end  of  fighting  as  a  gallant  defender 
that  had  appealed  to  him.  However,  he  had  let 
himself  in  for  it,  and  there  was  no  way  out. 
Very  soberly  he  made  his  way  to  the  base  hospital 


THE  DAWN  OF  REVENGE       281 

and  asked  a  much  overworked  doctor  if  he  could 
help. 

"Bather!"  was  the  prompt  reply.  "Don't 
know  anything  about  surgery,  I  suppose?"  he 
added.  He  had  not  even  looked  up  from  his  work 
to  see  who  was  addressing  him. 

"No,  Doctor,"  said  the  boy. 

"Too  bad.  Well—"  he  looked  up.  "But 
you're  just  a  youngster!  No  place  for  you. 
Better  go  home." 

"But  I  want  to  help!  Isn't  there  anything  I 
can  do,  orderly  work  or  such  ? ' ' 

"Oh,  if  you're  really  willing  to  work!"  The 
doctor  looked  round.  "Suppose  you  just  wash 
these  wounded  as  they  come  in,  and  lay  pieces  of 
linen  over  the  places  to  keep  the  flies  out.  That  '11 
save  me  time." 

Thus  David  began  his  work  as  a  hospital  at- 
tendant. Though  clumsy  he  was  willing,  and  dur- 
ing the  rush  of  the  first  few  days  he  made  himself 
useful  to  the  medical  side.  He  hated  it,  at  the  be- 
ginning, but  Ferguson  kept  him  at  it.  Later  he 
grew  to  like  the  work.  During  the  rainy  months 
of  December  and  January,  there  were  few  waking 
hours  when  he  was  not  at  some  work  in  the  hos- 
pital. It  was  all  highly  irregular,  but  the  medical 


282      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

service  was  terribly  short-handed,  and  David  was 
of  value  with  the  Arab  patients,  not  only  by  reason 
of  his  knowledge  of  the  tongue,  but  also  because 
his  childhood  experience  had  taught  him  some- 
what of  Arab  character. 

Meanwhile,  Sir  John  Nixon  resigned  as  Com- 
mander-in-Chief  and  Sir  Percy  Lake  succeeded 
him.  Nixon  was  blamed  for  the  Kut  failure, 
though  it  was  not  his  fault.  It  was  first,  last  and 
all  the  time,  a  question  of  transport. 

"If  they'd  sent  half  the  men  and  twice  the 
steamers,"  Ferguson  was  apt  to  declare,  "Pd 
have  taken  them  into  Bagdad  last  summer. " 

Which  was  absolutely  true. 

General  Aylmer  came  with  Sir  Percy  Lake  in 
command  of  the  troops,  two  more  divisions  being 
sent  as  reinforcements,  these  being  Indian  troops 
•sent  from  the  north  of  France  because  they  were 
unable  to  endure  the  wet  and  chilling  winters  of 
that  latitude,  and  from  Gallipoli  by  reason  of  the 
abandonment  of  that  futile  and  costly  operation. 

Knowing  how  urgent  was  the  need  at  Kut,  Gen- 
eral Aylmer  set  out  at  once  with  a  column  hastily 
gotten  together,  and,  as  always,  with  insufficient 
transport.  He  reached  as  far  as  Ali-el-Gharbi  on 
Christmas  Day,  a  point  only  forty  miles  below 


THE  DAWN  OF  REVENGE       283 

Kut.  The  wireless  operator  of  the  garrison  at 
Kut  reported  the  arrival  of  a  message  saying  that 
the  advance  of  the  Belief  Force  from  that  point 
would  be  made  on  January  6.  This  was  cheering 
news,  and  men  in  the  Kut  garrison  began  to  talk 
cheerfully  again  about  joining  in  the  occupation 
of  Bagdad. 

But  Khalil  Pasha,  the  Turkish  Commander, 
was  not  the  sort  of  man  to  await  a  Belief  Force 
without  making  preparation.  Aware  of  the  dan- 
ger of  leaving  his  rear  open  to  a  sortie  from  the 
Kut  garrison,  he  established  his  main  lines  ten 
miles  down  stream.  On  the  eastern  side,  at  a 
point  where  an  impassable  marsh  comes  close  to 
the  river,  he  entrenched  a  deep  double  system 
of  eight  earthworks,  at  Hanna  and  Sanna-i-yat  re- 
spectively. On  the  western  side  of  the  river,  from 
a  point  five  miles  inland,  known  as  the  Dujalah 
Bedoubt,  he  ran  three  powerful  blockade  lines,  to 
Beit-Aiessa,  Es  Sinn  and  Megasisti  Fort  respect- 
ively. Then,  to  guard  against  a  turning  by  flank, 
he  ran  another  blockade  line  far  away  to  where 
the  Shatt-el-Hai,  an  ancient  Babylonian  canal, 
joins  the  Tigris  and  the  Euphrates.  The  de- 
fenses were  modern,  complete,  and  well  held  by 
artillery. 


284      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

On  January  6,  according  to  schedule,  Aylmer 
advanced  from  Ali-el-Gharbi  and  attacked  an  ad- 
vance force  of  the  Turks  at  Sheik  Saad,  twenty 
miles  up  stream.  The  enemy  was  defeated  with 
heavy  loss,  but  the  British  loss  was  not  small. 
Transport  again  interfered  with  the  disposition 
of  the  wounded.  The  enemy  fell  back  upon  a 
wady  three  miles  away,  and  defended  this  with 
considerable  vigor.  It  was  a  naturally  strong 
place,  but  Aylmer 's  column  forced  its  way 
through,  though  again  with  considerable  casual- 
ties. 

In  all  these  British  operations,  the  fighting 
value  of  the  enemy  had  been  underestimated. 
Gallipoli  should  have  taught  England  the  mettle 
of  the  Turks,  but  the  lesson  was  ignored.  Gen- 
eral Aylmer  had  indeed  thrown  Khalil  Pasha 
back  to  his  main  defense  line,  the  outer  girdle  at 
Hanna,  but  it  had  cost  him  6,000  men. 

Moreover,  the  winter  rains  had  set  in,  and  the 
marshes  on  either  side  of  the  river,  passable  in 
places  in  October,  had  become  shallow  lakes.  The 
universal  hub-deep  dust  of  October,  a  dust  which 
covers  up  the  palm-groves  so  that  they  are  no 
longer  green,  a  dust  which  fills  the  mouth  as 
though  one  were  continually  munching  a  gritty 


THE  DAWN  OF  REVENGE       285 

tooth-paste,  which  gets  into  the  corners  of  the 
eyes  and  inflames  them,  causing  temporary  blind- 
ness, which  works  into  the  flesh  so  that  the  place 
where  belt  or  collar  touches  becomes  raw,  all  this 
dust,  the  winter  rains  turned  into  a  slippery,  glut- 
inous mud  that  clung  to  everything  it  touched. 
Mesopotamian  mud  in  December  and  January  is 
a  sticky  mire,  in  which  even  artillery  bullocks 
sink  and  the  guns  can  only  be  moved  with  ex- 
cessive difficulty. 

And  there  was  no  river  transport. 

Owing  to  the  fact  that  the  incoming  troops 
would  know  little  about  the  shoals  and  currents  of 
the  river,  Ferguson  had  grown  too  restless  to  stay 
in  Kut,  he  wanted  to  help  the  Relieving  Column. 
He  had  asked  Townshend  for  permission  to  try 
to  make  the  trip  down  to  Sheik  Saad,  when  it  was 
known  that  Aylmer  had  reached  so  far.  Towns- 
hend had  declined.  The  next  morning  Ferguson 
had  disappeared. 

Then  came  silence.  He  never  reached  Sheik 
Saad. 

David  was  now  tenfold  more  alone,  but  he  was 
kept  busy  by  the  medical  service. 

The  Relief  Column  was  now  in  a  difficult  posi- 
tion. With  heavy  losses,  shortage  of  munitions, 


286      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

lack  of  supplies  and  defective  transport,  General 
Aylmer  had  either  to  wait  where  he  was  for  Sir 
Percy  Lake  to  try  to  send  up  supplies  and  re- 
enforcements — not  knowing  when  they  would  get 
there — or  else  he  must  push  on  with  tired  men  and 
scant  munitions  to  try  to  take  a  powerful  Turk- 
ish position. 

One  thing  outweighed  all  others.  Aylmer  had 
been  sent  forward  to  relieve  Kut.  He  could  not 
afford  to  fall  back  without  at  least  one  desperate 
attempt  to  reach  the  beleaguered  city.  Moreover, 
if  he  fell  back,  there  was  a  grave  danger  that  the 
Turks  would  repeat  the  move  they  had  made  at 
Otesiphon,  and  perhaps  he  himself  would  be 
trapped  wherever  he  tried  to  make  a  stand. 

On  January  21  Aylmer  attacked  Hanna,  which 
was  a  trench  system  consisting  of  five  separated 
defenses  situated  between  a  flooded  swamp  and 
the  river,  all  these  trenches  being  connected  with 
saps.  The  ground  was  soft,  and,  had  the  British 
been  able  to  afford  a  heavy  artillery  preparation, 
enough  to  blow  up  the  trenches,  the  assault  might 
have  been  successful. 

Owing  to  lack  of  transport,  there  was  little  food 
for  the  guns.  The  men  had  to  make  a  frontal 
attack  on  almost  uninjured  trenches.  It  was 


THE  DAWN  OF  REVENGE       287 

brilliant,  it  was  daring,  it  was  heroic,  it  was  des- 
perate. But  not  even  undaunted  courage  can 
overcome  weight  of  numbers  and  advantage  of 
position.  The  attack  on  Hanna  failed.  The 
British  and  Indian  losses  were  2,741  men  on  that 
one  day.  The  troops  had  to  be  withdrawn. 

In  Kut,  the  besieged  had  heard  clearly  the  sound 
of  the  rescuers '  guns.  But,  that  night,  the  pitiless 
wireless  told  the  truth. 

Another  British  disaster! 

In  Kut  the  food  allowed  to  each  man  had  al- 
ready been  cut  by  one-third.  On  the  news  of  the 
Hanna  repulse,  it  was  cut. to  one-half.  Hunger 
began  to  stare  the  besieged  in  the  face. 

There  was  no  fuel  in  Kut.  Doors,  balconies, 
stairs,  tables,  chairs,  everything  which  would 
burn  was  drawn  on,  but  sparingly,  not  for  heating 
though  the  nights  were  chill,  the  streets  were 
mucky  rivers  and  the  skies  overhead  rained 
pitilessly,  but  for  the  mess-kitchens.  Some  coal- 
dust  and  sand  found  in  an  abandoned  yard  was 
mixed  with  crude  oil.  Then  poles  and  matting 
which  covered  the  bazaar  streets  was  torn  down 
and  burned. 

Flour  was  a  prime  difficulty.  In  response  to 
frequent  appeals  from  Townshend,  the  British 


288      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

aviators  succeeded  in  flying  over  and  dropping 
into  the  city  two  millstones,  and  a  mill  was  im- 
provised by  the  engineers.  Bread  was  now  made 
of  one-third  flour,  one-third  barley  meal  and  one- 
third  bean-dust. 

By  this  time,  General  von  der  Goltz  had  reached 
Bagdad  and  taken  up  headquarters  there,  a  fact 
which  the  garrison  at  Kut  soon  found  out  by  the 
increased  activity  in  the  bombardment.  Aero- 
planes came  over  daily  and  dropped  bombs,  across 
the  river  trench  mortars  were  erected  and  threw 
"windy-Lizzies,"  high  mud  walls  were  erected 
whence  snipers  fired  all  day  long  at  anything  or 
anybody  seen  passing  in  the  streets  of  Kut. 

The  Indian  troops,  being  Mohammedans,  would 
not  eat  the  freshly  killed  meat  of  the  artillery 
bullocks,  which  now  were  being  sacrificed.  There 
were  no  fresh  vegetables,  no  lime  juice.  Scurvy 
broke  out  in  the  camp.  A  special  cablegram  was 
sent  for  and  received  from  the  religious  leaders 
in  India  informing  the  Mohammedan  troops  that 
there  was  no  law  of  their  Faith  against  the  eating 
of  horseflesh,  and  the  horses  were  sacrificed. 
Even  so,  few  of  the  Indians  were  willing  to  eat 
meat,  and  the  scurvy  spread. 

Without  fuel,  during  the  period  of  the  rains 


THE  DAWN  OF  REVENGE      289 

when  the  trenches  were  half  filled  with  water, 
pneumonia  became  common.  Little  by  little  the 
supply  of  barley-meal  diminished,  and  the  bread 
became  a  nauseous  compound.  Towards  the  last, 
no  one  ever  asked  what  went  on  in  the  baking 
kitchens.  It  was  known,  however,  that  one  mess 
was  eating  a  considera/ble  portion  of  mud  mixed 
with  the  bread,  to  keep  the  other  ingredients  from 
causing  too  violent  griping  pains  inside. 

There  was  but  one  horror  they  were  spared.  A 
large  consignment  of  poison  gas  shells  arrived  at 
the  front  from  Germany  and  Von  der  Goltz  rubbed 
his  hands  in  delight.  He  could  bury  Kut  in  the 
foul  fumes  and  not  a  soul  would  emerge  alive. 

To  his  utter  amazement  Khalil  Pasha  refused 
not  only  to  use  the  bombs,  but  to  allow  his  men  to 
continue  the  campaign  if  the  Germans  used  them. 

"It  is  sufficiently  a  disgrace  to  the  true  believer 
to  be  compelled  to  ally  himself  with  infidels,"  de- 
clared the  Turkish  nobleman — this  to  Von  der 
Goltz 's  face — "but  we  will  not  ally  ourselves  with 
the  children  of  Jan  (devils).  The  first  gas-shell 
that  is  fired  will  be  a  signal  for  me  to  be  compelled 
to  express  regret  that  your  duties  require  your 
return  to  Germany." 

This  galled  Von  der   Goltz,  but  the   Turkish 


290      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

Alliance  was  too  important  for  the  German  com- 
mander to  risk  it  by  an  imprudent  reply. 

On  March  8,  Aylmer's  column  having  been  re- 
enforced,  it  marched  again  against  Es  Sinn.  The 
sound  of  the  rescuers'  guns  was  heard  once  more 
in  Kut.  Over  three  months  had  passed.  The 
garrison  was  on  its  last  legs.  It  knew  how 
much  the  second  attempt  at  relief  meant.  It  felt 
how  hopeless  would  be  the  situation  in  case  of  a 
reverse. 

This  time,  Aylmer  attacked  both  on  the  Es  Sinn 
side  and  at  Dujailah.  The  river  was  still  rising, 
a  record  flood.  The  Turks  had  fortified  every 
place  that  stuck  out  above  the  muddy  and  swirling 
water.  The  main  point  was  the  Dujailah  redoubt, 
for  the  British  Commander  felt  that  if  he  could 
carry  this,  he  could  flank  the  Turkish  position, 
and,  even  if  he  did  not  succeed  in  ousting  him,  he 
could,  at  all  events,  force  an  advance  storming 
party  into  Kut  with  provisions. 

The  plan  of  attack  was  excellent,  provided  that 
it  could  have  been  carried  out.  A  force  of  20,000 
men  were  to  strike  across  country  to  the  Es  Sinn 
line,  arriving  just  before  daybreak.  A  force  of 
15,000  men,  with  the  Cavalry  Brigade,  was  sent 
by  a  detour  around  the  marsh — or  through  it — to 


THE  DAWN  OF  REVENGE       291 

reach  the  redoubt  at  daybreak.  But  the  men  were 
too  tired,  and  the  going  was  too  heavy.  Endur- 
ance has  its  limits.  The  Es  Sinn  force  did  not 
arrive  until  long  after  daylight,  the  force  intended 
to  attack  the  redoubt  not  until  two  and  a  half  hours 
later.  The  men  were  ready  to  drop  from  fatigue 
when  the  order  was  given  to  charge.  None  the 
less  they  fought  and  fought  well.  At  the  redoubt, 
even,  a  foothold  was  gained. 

Hope  sprung  high  in  the  British  ranks.  On 
nearly  every  occasion  before,  once  the  British  had 
actually  breached  a  line  and  started  with  the  bay- 
onet, the  Turks  had  turned,  and  then  a  few 
minutes  of  vigorous  work  had  turned  the  retreat 
into  a  rout.  But,  at  the  redoubt,  the  artillery  and 
machine-gun  companies  were  officered  by  Ger- 
mans, who  held  the  men  close  to  their  work. 

"Are  they  retreating?"  was  the  agonized 
query  sent  up  to  the  scouting  aeroplanes. 

*  *  No  sign  of  retreat ! ' '  came  back  the  disturbing 
answer. 

Had  there  been  a  suitable  camping-ground  and 
drinkable  water,  perhaps  a  second  day's  assault 
might  have  won  the  redoubt,  and  turned  the  Turk- 
ish line.  But  there  was  none  and  the  men  were 
done.  There  is  a  point  of  exhaustion  and  loss  be- 


292      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

yond  which  the  soul  of  an  army  cracks.  More  had 
been  asked  than  human  endeavor  could  attain. 
The  men  were  done.  Aylmer  ordered  a  retreat. 

Yet  another  disaster  was  added  to  British  mili- 
tary history  in  Mesopotamia. 

It  was  followed  a  few  hours  later  by  the  visit  to 
Kut  of  a  Turkish  officer  under  a  white  flag  of 
truce,  expressing  a  willingness  to  receive  terms  of 
surrender.  Through  his  interpreter  he  was  lavish 
in  praise  of  the  gallantry  of  the  garrison.  Towns- 
hend  was  equally  courteous,  but  declined. 

The  following  day  ihe  British  Commander  is- 
sued one  of  his  famous  communiques.  It  read  in 
part: 

"As  on  a  former  occasion,  I  take  the  troops  of 
all  ranks  into  my  confidence  again.  .  .  . 

"We  have  now  stood  a  three  months'  siege  in  a 
manner  which  has  called  upon  you  the  praise  of 
our  beloved  King  and  our  fellow-countrymen  in 
England,  Scotland,  Ireland  and  India,  and  all  this 
after  your  brilliant  battles  of  Kut-el-Amara  and 
Ctesiphon  and  your  retirement  to  Kut,  all  of 
which  feats  of  arms  are  now  famous.  Since  5th 
December,  1915,  you  have  spent  three  months  of 
cruel  uncertainty,  and  to  all  men  and  all  people, 
uncertainty  is  intolerable.  As  I  say,  on  the  top 
of  all  this,  comes  the  second  failure  to  relieve  us. 

"And  I  ask  you  also  to  give  a  little  sympathy 
to  me  who  have  commanded  you  in  these  battles 
referred  to,  and  who,  having  come  to  you  as 


THE  DAWN  OF  REVENGE       293 

a  stranger,  now  love  my  command  with  a  depth 
of  feeling  I  have  never  known  in  my  heart  be- 
fore. .  .  . 

' '  I  am  speaking  to  you  as  I  did  before,  straight 
from  the  heart,  and,  as  I  say,  I  ask  your  sympathy 
for  my  feelings,  having  promised  you  relief  on 
certain  dates  on  the  promise  of  those  ordered  to 
relieve  us.  Not  their  fault,  no  doubt.  Do  not 
think  I  blame  them;  they  are  giving  their  lives 
freely  and  deserve  our  gratitude  and  admira- 
tion. 

' '  But  I  want  you  to  help  me  again,  as  before.  I 
have  asked  General  Aylmer  for  the  next  attempt 
to  bring  down  such  numbers  as  will  break  down 
all  resistance  and  leave  no  doubt  as  to  the  issue. 

"In  order,  then,  to  hold  out,  I  am  killing  a  large 
number  of  horses,  so  as  to  reduce  the  quantity  of 
grain  eaten  every  day,  and  I  have  had  to  reduce 
your  ration.  It  is  necessary  to  do  this  in  order 
to  keep  our  flag  flying.  I  am  determined  to  hold 
out,  and  I  know  you  are  with  me,  heart  and  soul." 

Not  only  the  horses  went.  All  the  cats  and 
dogs  disappeared.  With  the  beginning  of  April, 
the  rains  ceased  and  grass  and  weeds  began  to 
grow.  Volunteer  parties  went  out  at  night  to  cut 
anything  green,  grass,  herbs,  weeds.  The  mess 
was  boiled.  Noisome  and  bitter,  it  had  one  good 
effect,  it  stopped  the  scurvy.  Flocks  of  starlings 
arrived  and  crack  shots  helped  to  fill  the  pots.  A 
few  starlings  for  an  army! 

On  April  4,  the  roar  of  guns  was  heard  again. 


294,     WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

The  third  attempt  at  relief  had  begun.  Sir 
Stanley  Maude  had  arrived  with  a  division  from 
Egypt.  The  first  attack  was  a  brilliant  success. 
The  British  took  both  sides  of  the  enemy's  posi- 
tion. The  Turks  attempted  a  midnight  stand  and 
were  whipped  severely.  A  reenforcing  British  di- 
vision came  up  and  carried  on  the  fight  next  morn- 
ing. It  looked  as  though  Kut  would  be  reached. 

But  a  crest  of  water,  evidently  from  some  heavy 
rainstorm  in  the  distant  hills,  suddenly  raised  the 
Tigris  half  a  foot  and  swamped  the  trenches. 
The  guns  could  not  be  moved.  There  followed 
two  days'  delay,  which  the  Turks  used  to  full  ad- 
vantage. 

Townshend  had  already  announced  that  April 
15  was  the  latest  date  to  which  food  could  be  made 
to  hold  out.  On  learning  that  the  Relief  Force 
was  so  near,  though  compelled  to  dig  in,  he  wire- 
lessed that  'he  would  try  to  hold  out  a  week 
longer.  The  rations  were  cut  down  to  five  ounces 
of  meal  daily  to  a  man. 

Said  the  communique: 

' '  On  26th  January  I  told  you  that  our  duty  was 
plain  and  simple:  it  was  to  stand  here  and  hold 
up  the  Turkish  advance  on  the  Tigris,  working 
heart  and  soul  together,  and  I  expressed  the  hope 
that  we  would  make  this  defense  to  be  remem- 


THE  DAWN  OF  REVENGE       295 

bered  in  history  as  a  glorious  one,  and  I  asked 
you  to  remember  in  this  connection  the  defense 
of  Plevna,  which  was  longer  even  than  that  of 
Ladysmith. 

"Well,  you  have  nobly  carried  out  your  mis- 
sion; you  have  nobly  answered  the  trust  and  ap- 
peal I  put  to  you.  The  whole  British  Empire,  let 
me  tell  you,  is  ringing  now  with  our  defense  of 
Kut.  You  will  all  be  proud  to  say,  one  day,  'I 
was  one  of  the  garrison  at  Kut!'  And  as  for 
Plevna  and  Ladysmith,  we  have  outlasted  them 
also.  Whatever  happens  now,  we  have  all  done 
our  duty." 

With  the  arrival  of  more  aeroplanes  came  the 
attempt  to  reprovision  Kut  by  dropping  sacks  of 
flour.  It  was  moderately  successful.  Had  the 
machines  been  available,  and  had  the  provisioning 
been  begun  weeks  earlier,  Kut  might  have  held 
out.  But,  ever  and  always,  it  was  expected  that 
the  Relief  Force  would  break  through.  Yet  the 
Turkish  cordon  was  unbreakable. 

At  last  April  21  came,  the  day  that  Townshend 
had  said  was  the  limit  of  endurance.  By  the  aid 
of  a  few  sacks  of  flour  dropped  by  aeroplanes  he 
announced  that  he  could  hold  out  two  or  possibly 
three  days  longer. 

The  last  attempt  was  to  be  made  by  the  Navy. 
To  run  the  Turkish  blockade  was  an  apparently 
impossible  task.  It  could  not  be  done  at  night 


296      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

for  the  current  was  too  tricky.  By  day,  the  banks 
were  lined  with  guns  heavier  than  anything  a 
river  gunboat  could  carry. 

Yet  a  Navy  crew,  Lieutenant-Commander  Cow- 
ley  in  command  and  Lieutenant  Firman  as  en- 
gineer, started  on  the  Julnar,  the  lightest  draught 
and  fastest  boat  in  the  transport.  With  her  boil- 
ers at  top  pressure  she  darted  into  the  swirls  of 
the  swollen  river. 

The  Turks  were  not  to  be  caught  napping.  The 
guns  of  the  forts  and  of  the  banks  roared  out  in  a 
crescendo  of  fury.  The  water  around  the  Julnar 
boiled  with  the  shells.  The  captain  fell  at  the 
wheel,  dead  in  a  pool  of  his  own  blood.  The  en- 
gineer died  an  instant  later.  Baked  by  shrapnel, 
pierced  by  shell,  afire  and  racing  blindly,  the 
Julnar  plunged  into  a  mudbank  and  stuck,  her  270 
tons  of  supplies  on  board  within  easy  sight  of  the 
garrison  at  Kut,  but  as  out  of  reach  as  though 
they  were  a  thousand  miles  away. 

On  April  25  was  begun  the  last  half  of  the 
emergency  ration  and  two  days  later,  General 
Townshend,  with  a  heavy  heart  went  out  to  treat 
with  Khalil  Pasha,  the  Turkish  Commander.  He 
had  hoped  for  favorable  terms,  but  Khalil  Pasha, 
while  courteous,  was  adamant.  He  had  offered  to 


THE  DAWN  OF  REVENGE       297 

receive  terms  of  surrender  before  and  Townshend 
had  refused.  He  would  accept  nothing  now  but 
unconditional  surrender. 

So,  after  147  days,  the  longest  and  most  bitter 
siege  in  modern  history,  the  British  flag  was 
hauled  down  and  the  Turkish  standard  raised  in 
its  place.  Townshend  and  all  the  gallant  defend- 
ers went  into  captivity. 

Two  hours  after  the  Turks  entered  Kut,  there 
sauntered  into  the  hospital,  where  David  was 
working,  a  familiar  figure.  The  boy  rubbed  his 
eyes. 

"Ferguson!"  he  cried.  "I  thought  you  were 
dead!" 

The  American  was  as  imperturbable  as  ever. 

"Very  much  alive,  my  lad,"  he  replied. 

"But  how  did  you  get  here?" 

"You  mean  in  Kut?  I  came  in  with  the  Turks. 
Or  do  you  mean  in  the  hospital?  I  came  here  be- 
cause one  of  our  prisoners  told  me  that  he  'd  seen 
you  working  in  a  hospital.  That's  how  I  knew 
that  you  were  safe. ' ' 

"And  what  have  you  been  doing  all  these  long 
months?"  queried  the  boy. 

"Improving  my  knowledge  of  Turkish,  mainly," 
the  American  replied,  with  a  queer  smile. 


298      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

11  Prisoner?" 

"In  a  way.  Pleasantly  enough,  though.  When 
the  Germans  found  that  I  was  an  American,  they 
didn't  quite  know  what  to  do.  I'd  been  helping 
the  English,  they  knew  that,  but  I  told  them  I  was 
being  paid  for  it,  which  was  true.  So  they  asked 
me  to  act  as  a  pilot  for  them.  I  said  I  was  quite 
willing,  but  I  didn't  know  anything  about  the  river 
above  Kut. ' ' 

"But  you  do !"  protested  David,  who  had  a  deep 
disdain  for  anything  untrue. 

"Of  course,  but  I  had  to  answer  something, 
didn't  I?  And  as  long  as  the  Turks  didn't  have 
control  of  the  river  below  Kut,  I  was  able  to  show 
willingness  without  ever  having  to  carry  it  out. 
They  put  me  on  parole  not  to  leave  the  camp  and 
not  to  send  any  messages.  That's  why  I  wasn't 
able  to  let  you  know  that  I  was  here,  though  it 
would  have  been  easy  enough  for  one  of  the  Ger- 
man aviators  to  have  dropped  a  letter  for  me  into 
Kut." 

"And  you're  here,  then,  still  on  parole?" 

"Still,"  the  American  nodded.  "I'm  pretty 
good  friends  with  Khalil  Pasha,  too.  Fine  chap. 
Not  a  bit  like  a  Turk.  Quick,  alert,  progressive 
and  all  that,  and  a  mighty  good  soldier,  too.  I  Ve 


THE  DAWN  OF  REVENGE       299 

talked  to  him  about  you.  It'll  be  all  right. 
They  '11  put  you  on  parole,  too. 

*  *  The  only  thing  you  '11  have  to  be  careful  about 
is  that  you  cut  all  your  friends  among  the  Briti^. 
If  they  see  you  talking  to  any  of  them,  they'll  be 
suspicious.  But  it's  a  lot  easier  to  learn  to  hold 
your  tongue  than  to  go  into  a  Turkish  prison 
camp.  I  know.  I've  seen  them! 

"The  Turks  themselves  aren't  so  bad,  but  the 
Germans  have  a  way  of  suggesting  ugly  things 
that  a  Turk  wouldn't  think  of,  but  which  he  carries 
out  with  delight.  No,  my  boy,  keep  out  of  a  Turk- 
ish prison  camp,  if  you  can." 

"I  surely  will,"  the  boy  agreed,  "though  it 
looks  as  though  keeping  me  out  of  it  were  going  to 
be  your  job." 

"I'll  fix  it  all  right,"  said  Ferguson.  "Be  on 
the  job  here,  bright  and  early  to-morrow,  and 
make  it  a  point  to  be  busy  over  some  of  the  Turk- 
ish wounded  patients  you  have  here,  not  the  Eng- 
lish. Tip  off  the  English  doctor.  Then,  when 
the  Chief  Medical  Officer  of  the  Turkish  Staff 
comes  through  here,  to  take  control  of  affairs  from 
the  British  medical  officers,  I'll  come  with  him  and 
point  you  out.  If  we  can  arrange  the  thing 
smoothly,  you  can  go  along  quietly  with  this 


300      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

work.  Bit  by  bit,  if  you  can -get  the  Turkish 
doctors  to  trust  you,  they'll  make  you  useful  with 
English  patients,  where  your  knowledge  of  the 
language  will  help." 

The  following  morning  brought  about  the  events 
exactly  in  the  way  that  Ferguson  had  stated. 
Sauntering  through  the  wards  in  the  wake  of  the 
Turkish  Chief  Medical  Officer,  the  American 
pointed  out  the  lad.  The  Turk  ran  a  keen  eye 
over  him  and  motioned  him  forward. 

"Do  you  speak  Turkish?"  he  asked,  in  that 
language. 

"A  little,"  David  answered,  "but  I  speak 
Arabic  better.'* 

The  doctor  turned  the  conversation  into  that 
tongue.  He  hurled  a  dozen  questions  at  the  boy, 
and  David  found  himself  answering  in  a  way  that 
showed  he  had  picked  up  a  great  deal  of  rough 
military  nursing  during  his  three  months  in  hos- 
pital service. 

"You  will  give  your  parole,  as  an  American, 
that  you  will  nat  try  to  escape,  that  you  will  not 
assist  any  one  who  is  trying  to  escape  and  that 
you  will  not  speak  about  military  matters  to  any 
Turkish,  Arab  or  British  soldier?"  the  new- 
comer asked  curtly. 


301 

' 'Yes,"  answered  David  quietly,  "I  promise 
and  give  my  parole. ' ' 

"We  have  been  able  to  trust  your  friend," 
commented  the  Turkish  doctor;  "I  hope  we  shall 
find  that  we  have  not  been  unwise  in  trusting 
you." 

And  he  continued  his  rounds. 

The  change  of  control  made  little  difference  to 
David's  position,  except  that  it  threw  more  re- 
sponsibility on  him.  The  Turkish  doctors,  con- 
trary to  the  boy's  expectations,  were  well-trained 
and  absolutely  modern.  They  did  not  care  to 
work  hard,  however,  and  were  largely  indifferent 
to  the  results  of  their  treatment.  They  knew  what 
to  do,  and  did  it.  But  there  was  none  of  that  des- 
perate struggle  against  death  for  a  patient's  life, 
none  of  that  battle  to  "pull  a  man  through"  to 
which  the  boy  had  grown  accustomed  during  the 
past  three  months.  If  a  man  died  after  he  had 
received  the  treatment  which  ought  to  cure  him, 
it  was  the  will  of  Allah,  and  that  was  all. 

Owing  to  his  parole,  David  spoke  on  the  ques- 
tions of  the  war  with  no  one  but  Ferguson,  with 
whom  he  was  living  in  the  same  little  house  as  be- 
fore, though  it  was  a  wrecked  remnant  of  the 
house,  with  every  splinter  of  glass  out  of  the 


302      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

windows,  one  corner  chopped  off  by  a  shell  and 
bullet-marks  everywhere. 

"When  do  you  suppose  the  British  will  come 
up  again  and  take  Kut?"  asked  David. 

"Not  for  a  long  time,"  answered  Ferguson, 
shaking  his  head.  "At  least,  I  reck  on  not.  If  the 
British  have  any  sense,  they'll  finally  begin  where 
they  ought  to  have  begun  at  first.  * ' 

"You  mean — transport?"  queried  the  boy. 

Ferguson  nodded. 

"I  told  'em  the  first  time  they  came,"  he  said, 
alluding  to  the  British  Expeditionary  Force,  "that 
they'd  better  stay  at  Basra  till  they  got  boats,  not 
a  few  boats,  but  a  lot.  I  told  'em  that  boats 
wouldn't  be  any  good  till  they  got  wharves. 
There's  just  one  way  to  win  Mesopotamia. 
That's  by  river,  but  by  a  river  tamed  and  con- 
trolled. Once  get  the  river  so  that  the  Navy  can 
use  it,  and  so  that  the  Army  transport  service  can 
do  its  work,  and  the  soldiers  won't  have  any 
trouble. ' ' 

Fortunately  for  final  British  success,  the  second 
Commander-in-Chief,  Sir  Percy  Lake,  had  seen 
this.  General  Lake's  talents  lay  rather  in  the 
line  of  organization  and  detail  than  in  military 
strategy.  He  had  given  Generals  Aylmer  and 


THE  DAWN  OF  REVENGE       303 

Gorringe  a  free  hand  in  the  efforts  to  relieve  Kut, 
but  he  himself  had  turned  his  attention  mainly  to 
making  Basra  a  permanent  military  force  and 
base.  Wharves  of  permanent  character  had  been 
built.  Eailways  had  been  laid  down  in  all  im- 
portant directions.  Reservoirs  and  dams  had 
been  constructed  to  check  and  control  the  spring 
floods  on  the  Shatt-el-Arab.  Lake  had  secured 
experienced  civil  engineers.  His  staff  organ- 
ization at  Basra  was  superb.  During  the  spring, 
while  Aylmer  was  trying  to  reach  Kut  and  during 
the  summer  after  Kut  had  fallen,  Basra  was 
turned  into  a  modern  river  port  and  the  trans- 
port question  was  reorganized. 

In  Augusit  the  chief  command  was  transferred 
to  Sir  Stanley  Maude,  who  had  shown  himself  a 
commander  of  genius.  The  change  was  made 
just  at  the  right  time.  Lake's  work  was  done. 
Maude  undertook  the  same  thorough  reorgan- 
ization of  the  army,  which  his  predecessor  had 
given  to  Basra  and  the  system  of  supply.  It  was 

% 

Maude  who  realized  the  need  of  a  much  stronger 
cavalry  end.  He  built  up  a  complete  Veterinary 
and  Remounts  service.  It  was  Maude  also  who, 
in  a  somewhat  abrupt  note,  declared  that '  *  British 
feeling  could  not  condone  an  inadequate  hospital 


304      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

service  on  a  difficult  and  unhealthy  battle-front." 
The  three  and  a  half  months  that  elapsed  after 
Maude  took  command  until  the  time  that  he 
"went  north,"  to  use  a  phrase  that  became  famous 
in  Mesopotamia,  was  a  period  of  incessant  ac- 
tivity. The  general  was  determined  that  the 
transport  mismanagement  should  not  continue. 
Though  few  people  knew  it,  at  the  very  moment 
that  Aylmer  was  driving  forward  with  all  his 
power  to  relieve  Kut,  and  hampered  by  lack  of 
reinforcements,  there  were  12,000  fresh  troops  at 
Basra,  more  than  enough  to  have  turned  the  scale, 
who  could  not  be  got  up  to  their  comrades  because 
of  transport  conditions. 

When  Maude  "went  north,"  he  was  prepared 
to  march  indefinitely.  He  could  have  gone  to 
Constantinople,  if  need  be.  Supplies  were  ample, 
munitions  were  abundant,  river  steamers  plenti- 
ful, and  there  were  baggage  and  draught  animals 
enough  to  keep  pace  with  the  river  transport  all 
along  the  line.  The  worst  places  on  the  roads  had 
been  bridged,  swampy  places  drained.  The 
mosquito  pest  had  been  abolished  by  drainage  and 
sanitation  at  the  main  camps.  The  sand-fly  was 
the  only  unconquered  pest. 

On  the  other  hand,  in  the  six  months  between 


THE  DAWN  OF  REVENGE       305 

the  fall  of  Kut  and  the  beginning  of  Maude's  ad- 
vance, the  Germans  and  Turks  had  made  of  the 
Es  Sinn  defenses  a  barrier  which  they  believed  to 
be  as  impregnable  as  Gallipoli.  A  maze  of 
trenches  and  breastworks  fifteen  miles  deep  had 
been  constructed,  and  to  the  rear  of  this  maze 
were  two  other  almost  equally  formidable  posi- 
tions. Heavy  artillery  had  been  floated  down  on 
rafts  to  dominate  the  whole.  From  impassable 
marsh  on  the  one  hand  to  impassable  desert  on 
the  other,  there  was  not  an  unprotected  inch. 
Yet,  though  the  position  seemed  so  secure,  the 
German  general  did  not  trust  to  the  defenses 
alone,  but  had  a  heavy  army  in  position,  with  tre- 
mendous reinforcements  gathered  at  Bagdad. 

To  take  'Such  a  strong  position  meant  terrific 
fighting,  but  Maude  saw  that  there  was  one 
strategical  advantage,  at  least.  Since  the  entire 
valley  was  occupied  by  defenses,  an  attacking 
force  could  not  be  flanked  or  surrounded.  Per- 
sistent frontal  hammering,  if  savage  enough  and 
heavy  enough,  must  result  in  the  taking  of  those 
defenses  one  by  one.  It  meant  heavy  loss  of  life, 
it  meant  night  and  day  bombardment,  it  meant 
huge  hospital  accommodations  and  perfect  liaison 
in  every  branch.  Maude  had  the  men,  he  had  the 


306      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

guns,  he  had  the  munition,  he  had  made  the 
liaison. 

The  series  of  battles  began  on  December  13, 
1916.  It  took  five  days  of  absolutely  continuous 
fighting  to  break  through  one  end  of  the  outer  de- 
fenses. Had  the  attacking  column  been  an  is- 
olated force,  like  that  of  Townshend,  or  of  Aylmer, 
another  British  disaster  would  have  been  re- 
corded. But  Maude  was  ready  for  this  very  con- 
tingency. He  threw  another  column  of  fresh  and 
unwearied  men  at  the  opposite  end  of  the  defenses, 
this  attack  being  accomplished  by  a  terrific  bom- 
bardment. The  Turkish  commander  at  once 
shifted  his  troops  to  meet  this  attack,  but  the 
bombardment  went  on  and  on  and  on.  So  heavy 
was  the  shell-fire  that  the  defenses  began  to 
crumble  and  a  breach  was  made.  It  looked  like 
the  ideal  moment  for  an  attack. 

But  to  the  astonishment  of  the  Turks,  the 
breach  was  left  unused  and  a  triple  attack  was 
made  at  the  other  end  of  the  line.  The  outer 
column  of  this  attack  had  marched  through  an 
absolutely  waterless  country  and  it  pinched  in 
back  of  the  outer  fort.  The  Turks  believed  that 
no  troops  could  maneuver  through  such  country, 
but  Maude's  extraordinary  land  transport  system 


THE  DAWN  OF  REVENGE       307 

and  his  heavy  cavalry  achieved  the  almost  im- 
possible, and  the  western  end  crumpled.  This 
was  by  no  means  a  decisive  defeat,  for  the  Turks 
consolidated,  but  it  enabled  the  British  to  dig  in 
higher  up  the  river,  and  to  annoy  the  Turks  at  a 
point  between  their  first  and  second  main  lines  of 
defense. 

Day  after  day,  night  after  night,  for  long 
weeks,  Turks  and  British  fought  hand  to  hand. 
The  Indian  troops  were  like  tigers.  The  Turks 
would  not  weaken.  The  loss  of  life  on  both  sides 
was  terrible.  But,  day  after  day,  here  a  trench 
and  there  a  breastwork  fell  into  British  hands,  and 
what  was  once  gained  was  not  lost  afterwards. 
By  February  3,  after  sixty-four  days  of  continu- 
ous effort  and  unceasing  combat — only  those  who 
know  modern  war  can  imagine  what  the  transport 
service  was  called  upon  to  do  to  sustain  a  huge 
army  during  such  a  protracted  battle — the  main 
outer  salient  was  driven  in.  By  the  10th,  the 
Turks  were  driven  back  to  the  second  series  of 
defenses,  around  Kut.  On  the  13th,  the  Liquorice 
Factory — a  prominent  defense  of  the  British  gar- 
rison when  it  was  in  Kut — had  been  taken.  On 
the  15th  and  16th  the  assault  rose  to  unparalleled 
ferocity.  The  British  and  Indians  crept  on.  To 


308      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

hold  his  second  position,  the  Turkish  commander 
moved  men  up  from  the  third. 

Maude,  receiving  this  report  from  his  airmen, 
ordered  a  redoubled  bombardment  on  the  front 
and  sent  a  heavy  force  to  flank  the  third  line, 
through  the  crumpled  western  end.  There  was  a 
bitter  fight,  but  the  engineers  succeeded  in  throw- 
ing a  pontoon  bridge  across,  and  the  infantry  of 
one  division  passed  over.  The  Turks  were  now 
taken  in  the  rear. 

As  they  struck,  with  a  precision  timed  to  a 
second,  the  assault  was  made  in  front.  For  two 
hours  the  Turks  held  stubbornly  and  then  aero- 
plane reconnoissances  showed  that  the  rear  was 
giving  way. 

A  cry  rang  through  the  British  ranks, 

" The  last  push,  men!" 

Like  a  great  tidal  wave  the  British  and  Indians 
swept  on  and  through,  and,  as  they  broke,  the  gun- 
boats, which  had  been  active  in  the  bombardment 
night  and  day,  stormed  through  to  Kut. 

Much  of  this  battle  David  had  seen  from  a  dis- 
tance, but  not  all.  Eealizing  toward  the  end  of 
February  that  the  British  would  probably  get 
through,  Ferguson  and  David  decided  to  make 
themselves  scarce.  The  wily  American  had  long 


THE  DAWN  OF  REVENGE       309 

ago  prepared  for  the  complications'  which  might 
follow  a  change  of  masters  in  Kut  b>  appropriat- 
ing one  of  the  bomb-proof  shelters  which  had 
been  built  by  the  British  during  the  siege.  This 
he  had  stored  with  ample  provision  of  food  and 
water  in  hermetically  sealed  bottles. 

On  the  evening  of  February  24,  looking  out 
cautiously  from  the  bomb-proof,  the  two  fugitives 
saw  British  soldiers  in  khaki  marching  through 
the  streets.  Scant  time  was  lost  in  leaving  the 
shelter. 

Master  of  the  situation  as  always,  Ferguson 
hunted  up  one  of  the  officers  he  had  known  at 
Basra,  and  reestablished  friendly  communica- 
tions. No  one  could  have  been  more  welcome,  for 
while  the  gunboats  were  navigating  the  river  ad- 
mirably, by  the  aid  of  the  lead,  and  had  already 
charted  and  buoyed  the  stream  below  Kut,  a 
Tigris  pilot  was  always  useful,  especially  for  the 
unknown  upper  stretch  of  the  river,  and  David's 
services  were  of  almost  equal  value  in  spite  of  his 
youth  and  inexperience. 

4 'We  have  over  five  hundred  craft,  of  one  kind 
and  another,  on  the  river  now,"  declared  one  of 
the  transport  officers,  chatting  the  situation  over 
with  Ferguson  and  his  boy  assistant. 


310      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

"How  on  earth  did  you  do  it?"  asked  the 
American. 

"We  did  it!"  the  other  answered  grimly. 

He  pointed  through  a  hole  in  the  wall — few 
buildings  were  left  sufficiently  whole  in  Kut  to 
possess  a  window — to  a  flat-bottomed,  high-fun- 
neled,  double-decked,  paddle-wheel  craft,  churning 
up  stream  with  a  barge  in  tow. 

"That's  a  Thames  penny  steamer!"  he  said. 

"But  how  in  the  world  did  she  get  here?" 
asked  Ferguson. 

' '  Under  her  own  steam ! ' '  was  the  answer. 

Both  men  fell  silent.  Even  the  American 
looked  with  awe  at  the  craft. 

"Bay  of  Biscay,  Mediterranean,  Suez,  Bed  Sea, 
Arabian  Sea,  Persian  Gulf!"  he  muttered.  "It 
isn't  possible." 

"It  wasn't  possible,"  the  officer  answered,  "but 
it  was  done.  Eleven  started,  but  only  five 
reached  here." 

"The  others?" 

"Their  crews  are  added  to  the  heroes  of  the 
war, ' '  the  officer  said  solemnly. 

It  was  as  pilot  of  that  Thames  penny  steamboat 
that  David,  some  weeks  later,  once  more  entered 
Bagdad  in  the  rear  of  Maude 's  victorious  army. 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE  UNCONQUERED  SANDS 

A  LONG  line  of  camels  silhouetted  against  the 
sky,  moving  with  shuffling  tread  over  ancient 
sands,  billowy  like  a  stormy  sea. 

A  river,  slow  and  old,  flooding  the  land  in 
spring  and  sinking  to  its  own  bed  for  the  rest  of 
the  year,  a  historic  river,  upon  which  the  Sphinx 
and  Pyramids  look  down. 

A  busy,  active  population,  prosperous  and  con- 
tented, growing  the  finest  cotton  on  earth. 

A  line  of  thriving  cities,  in  which  East  and 
West  are  blended  in  tawdry  splendor. 

Such  is  Modern  Egypt. 

Having,  after  the  lapse  of  many  months,  heard 
from  David  that  he  was  safely  at  Basra  with  his 
friend  Ferguson,  though  all  unknowing  of  his 
later  adventures,  the  old  archaeologist  settled  him- 
self down  in  Egypt  to  fulfill  a  dream  he  had  had 
for  years — a  thorough  examination  of  the  an- 
tiquities of  Egypt  at  his  leisure. 

But  the  Great  War  had  its  influence  even  over 
311 


3i2     WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

so  persistent  a  dreamer  of  old-world  times  as  was 
Professor  Surch.  The  conquests  of  Rameses,  the 
Religious  War  in  the  time  of  the  Shepherd  Kings 
and  the  Roman  Antony's  thralldom  to  Cleopatra 
began  to  seem  less  important  than  the  Allied  Con- 
quests under  Foch,  the  Religious  War  between 
Civilization  and  Hun  vandalism  and  the  German 
Kaiser 's  enthrallment  with  the  phantom  of  the 
Berlin-to-Bagdad  Railway.  Modern  issues  began 
to  engross  him,  more  and  more. 

Especially,  try  as  he  would,  the  archaeologist 
could  not  understand  the  British  position  in 
Egypt.  He  read  everything  that  he  could  get  on 
the  subject,  becoming  more  and  more  confused 
the  more  he  read.  At  last,  his  brain  whirling,  he 
dropped  into  a  well-known  club  at  Cairo  and  set 
himself  to  question  one  of  his  fellow-members 
whom  he  knew  to  be  one  of  the  best-informed  men 
in  Egyptian  affairs. 

The  latter  held  up  his  hands  in  dismay. 

".Explain  to  you  the  inner  politics  of  Egypt!" 
he  exclaimed.  "Why,  Professor  Surch,  that 
would  take  a  week  of  steady  talking ! ' ' 

"You  know  what  I  mean,"  the  archaeologist  re- 
plied. "I've  read  nearly  all  the  books  I  could 
find  on  the  subject,  but  I  can 't  seem  to  get  a  clear 


THE  UNCONQUERED  SANDS     313 

general  outline.  If  you  can  give  me  that,  I  can 
fit  in  all  the  rest. ' ' 

The  young  vice-consul  smoked  in  silence. 

" First  of  all,"  he  said,  "I  suppose  I  ought  to 
admit  that  you  '11  find  the  story  puzzling,  being  an 
American,  especially.  You  see,  England  does  all 
sorts  of  things  in  very  queer  ways.  We  gener- 
ally manage  to  come  out  all  right  at  the  end,  but 
the  processes  are  a  good  deal  mixed  up.  Take 
Egypt,  for  instance.  No  one  ever  could  do  as 
much  good  as  we've  done  in  this  country,  but 
we've  done  it  absolutely  illegally,  and  by  the 
smashing  of  treaties  right  and  left." 

The  old  archaeologist  was  horrified. 

"And  you  made  such  a  noise  about  Bethmann- 
Hollweg  calling  the  Belgian  Treaty  a  'scrap  of 
paper,'  "  he  said. 

*  *  Yes,  I  know, ' '  the  vice-consul  answered.  ' '  He 
shouldn't  have  said  that.  It  was  an  undiplomatic 
phrase." 

"You  mean,"  said  the  American,  now  really 
shocked,  "that  you  feel  it  was  worse  for  him  to 
say  so  than  to  act  the  way  the  Germans  did?" 

"Well,"  said  the  younger  man,  "I  wouldn't  go 
so  far  as  to  say  that.  But  if  Germany  had  simply 
paid  no  attention  to  the  treaty  and  said  nothing 


WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

about  it,  she  could  have  excused  herself  after- 
wards and  wriggled  out  of  it.  Anyway,  that's 
what  we've  done  in  Egypt." 

1  'Tell  me  about  it,  if  you  don't  mind,"  asked 
the  archaeologist. 

So  the  other,  leaning  back  in  his  chair,  began 
the  story. 

"I'm  afraid  I'll  have  to  begin  away  back  in 
1517,  when  the  Turks  conquered  the  Egyptians 
and  made  Egypt  a  Turkish  province.  As  a  result 
of  that  conquest,  Egypt  was  pledged  to  send  12,000 
troops  to  the  Sultan  of  Turkey  in  case  of  war ;  she 
was  required  to  pay  a  large  tribute,  and  she  was 
to  be  governed  by  native  chieftains  or  mamelukes, 
under  a  Turkish  viceroy. 

"Quite  early  in  the  nineteenth  century  Moham- 
med Ali,  the  Turkish  viceroy  of  Egypt,  started  a 
war  against  the  Sultan  and  the  latter  probably 
would  have  been  dethroned  if  the  Powers  hadn't 
broken  in  to  preserve  the  balance  of  Europe. 
England  got  into  that  little  deal  and  worked  so  as 
to  gain  the  friendship  of  both  sides.  She  pleased 
the  Sultan  by  arranging  the  treaty  so  that  the 
tribute  of  two  million  dollars  should  still  be  paid, 
and  that  Egypt's  army  of  18,000  men  should  be  at 
the  disposal  of  the  Sultan  in  war  time,  while  the 


THE  UNCONQUERED  SANDS    315 

Egyptians  should  be  regarded  as  Turkish  sub- 
jects. At  the  same  time,  she  pleased  Mohammed 
Ali  by  making  the  succession  of  the  viceroyship 
hereditary,  thus  forming  a  dynasty,  and  by  mak- 
ing the  Egyptian  Army  independent  and  able  to 
pursue  its  own  schemes  save  only  when  Turkey 
had  declared  a  war. 

"In  1867,  the  grandson  of  Mohammed  Ali  made 
a  new  treaty  with  the  Sultan,  whereby  he  received 
the  title  of  Khedive  and  was  given  more  local  im- 
portance. In  return  for  this  the  tribute  was 
raised  to  three  million  dollars — in  your  money. 
The  building  of  the  Suez  Canal  by  the  French  had 
greatly  increased  the  importance  of  Egypt,  but, 
by  a  little  financial  juggling,  we  got  control  of  the 
Suez  Canal  from  France." 

"The  less  said  about  that  the  better,"  remarked 
the  archaeologist.  "I  don't  think  England's  ac- 
tions in  that  affair  would  bear  investigation." 

"They  worked,"  the  British  official  declared 
unblushingly,  "and  in  diplomacy,  if  a  plan  works 
one  is  supposed  to  forget  how  it  was  brought 
about.  We  had  to  control  the  Suez,  you  know, 
it 's  our  main  highway  to  India. 

"Then  in  1882  the  revolution  by  Arabi  Pasha 
came  up.  We  invaded  Egypt — France  not  wish- 


316      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

ing  to  interfere — with  the  avowed  object  of  main- 
taining the  Khedive  on  his  throne  and  to  restore 
order,  but,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  to  strengthen  our 
grip  on  the  Canal. 

"Ten  years  later,  in  1892,  a  treaty  was  signed 
stating  again  that  the  Khedive  was  subject  to  the 
Sultan,  that  the  Egyptians  were  Turkish  subjects, 
that  annual  tribute  must  be  paid,  and  that  the 
Khedive  was  not  allowed  to  make  treaties.  The 
Egyptian  Army  was  at  the  disposal  of  the  Sultan, 
the  Turkish  flag  and  not  the  Egyptian  was  to  be 
used  and  all  appointments  above  the  rank  of 
colonel  were  to  be  made  by  the  Sultan.  England 
agreed  to  all  this.  As  late  as  1910  England  re- 
stated it,  and  affirmed  that  the  Army  of  Occupa- 
tion was  only  for  the  purpose  of  maintaining  order 
and  that  we  would  evacuate  the  country  some 
time.  When,  we  would  not  say. 

"All  this  was  good  for  Turkey.  As  long  as  we 
were  there,  the  country  was  prosperous.  The  tri- 
bute was  paid  regularly.  Turkey  did  not  have 
to  trouble  about  keeping  order  in  one  of  its  turbu- 
lent provinces.  British  capital  was  developing 
the  resources  of  the  country.  Once  or  twice 
complications  came  up,  as  in  the  Turco-Italian 
and  Turco-Balkan  wars,  because  of  the  right  that 


THE  UNCONQUERED  SANDS     317 

the  Sultan  undoubtedly  possessed  to  summon  an 
Egyptian  Army  to  his  aid.  We  threatened  to 
withdraw  our  aid,  if  he  did  so,  and  both  times 
Egypt  remained  unofficially  neutral. 

"Then  came  the  Great  War.  The  Germans  at 
once  sent  agents  to  Egypt  urging  them  to  throw 
us  out  of  the  country.  But  we,  in  defiance  of 
every  treaty,  urged  the  Egyptian  government  to 
consider  itself  at  war  with  Germany  and  Austria, 
and  gave  all  Germans  and  Austrians  forty-eight 
hours  to  get  out  of  the  country. ' ' 

"But  this,  sir,"  declared  the  American,  "was  a 
high-handed  injustice.  You  had  not  the  slightest 
right  in  the  world  to  do  such  a  thing. ' ' 

"Not  the  slightest!"  agreed  the  Englishman, 
cheerfully.  "It  was  utterly  illegal  in  every  way. 
We  forced  a  Turkish  province  to  rebel  against 
the  Sultan,  when  we  ourselves  had  signed  a  treaty 
stating  that  we  would  do  all  we  could  to  keep  that 
province  loyal  to  the  Sultan.  Moreover,  we 
forced  Egypt  to  declare  war,  when  the  treaty  we 
had  signed  definitely  stated  that  Egypt,  being  a 
Turkish  province,  had  not  the  right  to  declare 
war. 

"Our  violation  of  treaty  rights  got  worse  and 
worse.  When  Turkey  undertook  to  send  an  army 


3i8      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

against  a  rebellious  province,  a  thing  which  she 
not  only  had  a  right  to  do,  but  in  which  we  were 
bound  by  treaty  to  help  her,  we  sent  an  army 
against  her  and  told  the  Egyptians  that  they  did 
not  even  need  'to  fight  for  themselves  but  that  we 
would  undertake  to  fight  their  dishonorable 
battle. 

"Regarded  as  diplomacy  it  was  a  nightmare. 
Sir  Edward  Grey  demanded  of  the  Sultan  whether 
he  intended  to  invade  Egypt. 

"The  Sultan  quite  naturally  replied  that  'since 
Egypt  was  one  of  his  own  provinces,  how  could  he 
invade  it?' 

"Finally  war  was  declared  between  England 
and  Turkey  and  then  our  position  became  even 
more  like  a  situation  in  a  comic  opera.  If  we 
were  at  war  with  Turkey,  then  legally  we  were 
also  at  war  with  Egypt,  for  Egypt  was  still  a 
Turkish  province.  English  officers  in  the  Egyp- 
tian Army  were  thus  technically  at  war  with  Eng- 
land and  at  the  same  time  were  fighting  England's 
battles.  They  were  actually  in  the  pay  of  their 
enemy,  or,  to  put  the  matter  another  way,  the 
enemy  was  paying  them  for  fighting  against  him. 

"Like  characters  in  'Alice  in  Wonderland,'  we 
now  stated  that  we  were  making  war  on  the  Turk- 


THE  UNCONQUERED  SANDS     319 

ish  Empire  on  behalf  of  Egypt,  which,  at  the  same 
time,  we  admitted  was  a  part  of  the  Turkish  Em- 
pire ;  and  we  further  declared  that  we  were  fight- 
ing in  defense  of  a  treaty  which  we  broke  by  fight- 
ing in  defense  of  it.  Mad  though  it  sounds,  we 
were  presumably  fighting  to  uphold  the  Sultan's 
right  to  fight  us  for  allowing  the  Egyptians  to 
allow  us  to  fight  the  Sultan  on  the  Sultan's  own 
teritory!  Moreover,  although  we  already  knew 
that  the  Khedive  had  sided  against  England,  W3 
still  recognized  that  the  Suitan  was  his  Overlord, 
and  we  therefore  technically  supported  his  posi- 
tion in  attacking  us. "  * 

"But,  in  the  name  of  common  sense,  how  did 
you  ever  get  out  of  such  a  muddle!"  asked  the 
archaeologist. 

"It  was  a  pickle,  wasn't  it?"  the  official  agreed. 
"First  of  all,  we  had  a  good  large  army  of  Aus- 
tralians and  New  Zealanders  here — just  to  main- 
tain order,  of  course,  we  said.  We  used  Egypt 
for  a  training  and  drilling  ground,  so  that  there 
were  plenty  of  soldiers  here  all  the  time.  Then 
some  heavy  battleships  were  always  handy.  Be- 
sides that,  the  cotton  crop  having  been  poor  and 

i  "The  New  Egypt,"  by  A.  E.  P.  B.  Weigall,  Blackwood's  Mag<t- 
zine,  1915. 


320      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

the  fellahin  or  peasant  cultivators  restless,  we  lent 
the  Egyptian  government  twenty-five  million  dol- 
lars to  purchase  the  unsold  cotton  from  small 
growers.  That  pacified  the  peasants,  gave  us  a 
lot  of  cotton,  which  we  needed  for  munitions, 
and,  even  more  important,  kept  it  out  of  German 
hands. 

"Of  course,"  here  the  British  official  became 
serious,  "the  real  point  was  this :  we  had  built  up 
Egypt  to  comfort  and  good  government,  and  we 
were  hanged  if  we  were  going  to  hand  over  12,- 
000,000  human  beings  to  German  barbarism  and 
Turkish  spoliation.  Technically  we  were  wrong, 
of  course,  and  we  smashed  to  shivers  our  treaty — 
treated  it  as  scrap  of  paper,  if  you  like — but 
whereas  Germany  did  the  same  thing  for  the  in- 
jury of  Belgium,  England  did  it  for  the  benefit  of 
Egypt. 

"As  for  straightening  up  the  muddle,  that  came 
later.  When  it  became  evident  that  Egypt  did 
not  want  to  revolt  and  laughed  at  the  Kaiser's 
'Holy  War,'  when  the  chief  ulemas  (doctors  of  di- 
vinity of  the  Mohammedan  faith)  in  Cairo  Uni- 
versity issued  an  edict  of  alliance,  when  the  sur- 
rounding Sheiks  showed  friendliness,  and  when 
the  whole  native  press  was  a  unit  in  defense  of  the 


THE  UNCONQUERED  SANDS     321 

British  position,  then  a  protectorate  was  formed, 
the  pro-German  Khedive  was  removed,  and  a 
prince  of  the  old  line  was  proclaimed  Sultan.  He 
is  a  young  progressive  monarch,  a  keen  student  of 
modern  agriculture,  and  is  proud  of  the  title 
'Father  of  the  Fellahin.'  Naturally,  he  swears 
by  England  through  thick  and  thin. 

"As  an  example,  Professor  Surch,  of  the  sort 
of  thing  which  has  enabled  us  to  win  over  Egypt — 
however  illegally  we  may  have  done  it — let  me  tell 
you  just  what  I  saw  myself  at  the  official  review 
and  march-past  on  the  day  of  the  Sultan's  acces- 
sion. 

"Just  as  the  main  part  of  the  great  military 
parade  was  marching  down  the  main  street  and 
passing  the  saluting  point,  a  small  native  funeral 
came  into  sight  along  a  side-street.  It  was 
stopped,  of  course,  by  the  police.  Now,  from 
where  he  sat  in  the  reviewing  stand,  Sir  John 
Maxwell,  who  was  taking  the  salute,  could  see 
this  little  funeral. 

"Without  a  moment's  hesitation,  he  intervened. 
He  sent  an  aide-de-camp  to  the  officers  of  the  regi- 
ment which  was  passing,  ordering  a  halt.  The 
band  of  the  Rifles,  which  was  playing  a  marching 
air,  was  bidden  cease  playing.  Sixteen  men  of 


322      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

the  Rifles  were  ordered  to  fall  out  and  line  across 
the  main  street  as  a  guard  of  honor.  Then  Sir 
John  Maxwell  and  his  staff  moved  aside.  The 
troops  stood  at  attention,  and  the  simple  native 
cortege  passed  through  the  British  lines. 

"Then  the  lines  were  re-formed,  the  band  re- 
sumed playing,  the  march-past  continued  as  be- 
fore. So  far  as  the  actual  incident  itself  was 
concerned,  it  was  trifling,  but  it  made  a  deep  im- 
pression on  the  fellahin.  The  native  press  gave 
far  more  space  to  the  funeral  than  it  did  to  the 
whole  story  of  the  parade  and,  far  more  than  any 
speeches,  it  explained  to  the  people  of  Egypt  what 
England  meant  by  being  a  protecting  power. 
Imagine  a  German  doing  such  a  thing ! ' ' 

"Germany,"  agreed  the  American,  "would 
have  wanted  to  punish  the  relatives  of  the  dead 
man  for  daring  to  have  a  funeral  on  that  day. 
After  all,"  he  continued,  "that  is  the  secret  of 
England's  power.  She  is  ready  to  admit  that 
other  people  have  rights  to  be  respected,  and 
opinions  of  their  own.  Just  for  that  reason  I'm 
afraid  the  United  States  will  never  become  a  suc- 
cessful colonizing  nation,  because  it  is  one  un- 
happy characteristic  of  my  countrymen  that  they 
think  they  know  it  all,  and  another  that  they 


THE  UNCONQUERED  SANDS     323 

imagine  that  all  the  world  ought  to  think  as  they 
do.  I  have  never  been  able  to  employ  any  Ameri- 
can assistants,  either  in  my  excavations  in  Pales- 
tine or  Mesopotamia,  for  they  want  to  American- 
ize the  natives  around  them  and  they  have  little 
consideration  for  any  point  of  view  but  their 
own. ' ' 

"Yet  they  did  mighty  well  in  the  Philippines," 
the  British  official  interposed. 

'  *  Yes,  in  a  way, ' '  the  scholar  replied,  '  *  but  they 
imposed  American  ideas  on  the  islands,  they 
didn't  develop  the  life  they  found  there.  That's 
much  more  the  German  idea. 

"Take  India,  for  example.  Germany  has  long 
had  an  envious  eye  on  India.  This  war  was  in- 
tended to  be  a  means  of  winning  it.  Well,  sup- 
pose Germany  did  take  India,  what  would  be  the 
result?  It  would  cost  her  more  to  keep  it  sub- 
jugated than  it  would  be  worth,  for  she  would  try 
to  Germanize  it.  If  my  thirty  years  of  life  in  the 
Orient  has  taught  me  anything,  it  is  that  you 
can't  westernize  an  eastern  people." 

"How  about  Japan?"  asked  the  official. 

The  archaeologist  frowned. 

"Japan  isn't  either  eastern  or  western,"  he 
answered.  "She's  the  Germany  of  the  East,  and 


324      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

an  even  more  dangerous  menace  to  modern  civil- 
ization. But  don't  let  us  go  as  far  afield  as  Japan. 
What's  going  to  happen  in  this  theater  of  war? 
Have  the  Turks  had  enough,  do  you  think!  I'm 
asking,  especially,  because  I  want  to  know  if  it 
would  be  safe  for  me  to  try  to  get  to  Jaffa  by 
sea  and  by  rail  into  Jerusalem.  I  could  cross  the 
desert  again  to  Amara,  easily  enough,  for  the 
Arabs  are  friendly  to  me,  and  I  want  to  get  back  to 
my  boy. '  ' 

"No,"  the  vice-consul  answered,  " that's  out  of 
the  question.  The  Turks  and  Germans  together 
have  a  tremendous  force  gathered  at  Damascus, 
250,000  men  at  least,  and  the  Palestine  railroad  is 
altogether  in  their  hands.  But,"  and  he  tapped 
the  table  with  his  finger  thoughtfully,  "250,000 
men  at  Damascus  is  a  very  different  story  from 
250,000  men  menacing  the  Suez  Canal.  It  is  not 
only  ten  times  as  difficult  to  move  a  force  of  that 
size  in  a  desert  country,  but  a  hundred,  yes  a  thou- 
sand times  more  difficult." 

"Why?" 

"Because  there  are  few  wells,  a-nd  those  that 
there  are  do  not  contain  enough  water,"  was  the 
prompt  reply.  "Water  is  the  one  thing  that 
modern  science  cannot  manufacture.  If  it  were 


THE  UNCONQUERED  SANDS     325 

not  that  we  hold  control  of  the  sea,  the  situation  in 
Egypt  would  be  dangerous,  because  it  is  easy  to 
land  troops  on  this  coast.  But,  as  long  as  the 
British  and  French  navies  hold  the  Mediterra- 
nean, Germany  and  Turkey  are  compelled  to  at- 
tack by  land.  You  remember  the  last  time.  Well, 
even  with  modern  devices,  I  don't  believe  that 
more  than  25,000  men  can  be  taken  across  the 
Sinai  Desert,  no  matter  what  means  are  em- 
ployed. ' ' 

In  this  the  official  proved  himself  in  the  right, 
for  when,  a  few  months  later,  Germany  and  Tur- 
key made  a  second  attack,  this  time  mainly  by  the 
northern  route,  across  the  desert,  near  the  sea, 
18,000  men  was  the  utmost  that  could  be  moved 
after  several  months  of  preparation.  The  actual 
attack  lasted  but  two  days  and  the  Turks  were 
overwhelmed,  with  a  loss  of  5,000  men,  all  their 
guns,  light  and  heavy,  a  million  rounds  of  am- 
munition and  500  camels.  A  second  time  it  was 
proved  that  the  Sinai  Desert  was  an  efficient  de- 
fense to  the  Suez  Canal. 

By  the  middle  of  January,  1917,  Maude's  ad- 
vance on  Kut  was  showing  signs  of  bearing  fruit. 
The  time  seemed  ripe  for  an  offensive  movement 
from  Egypt.  Quite  suddenly,  without  a  hint  of 


326     WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

preparation  having  leaked  out,  a  strong  force  of 
infantry,  chiefly  Australians  and  New  Zealanders, 
covered  with  clouds  of  Australian  Light  Horse 
and  supported  by  the  Imperial  Camel  Corps, 
marched  at  a  swift  pace  from  the  Suez  Canal  along 
the  sea-coast.  They  crossed  the  Serbonian  bog 
(where  Pharaoh's  army  was  swallowed  up),1  by 
a  bridge  which  had  been  built  in  sections  and  was 
carried  to  the  front  on  camel-back. 

This  traversed,  the  column  hurled  itself  on  El 
Arish.  The  men  traveled  light,  because,  with 
England  controlling  the  sea,  supplies  could  be 
sent  by  the  sea-coast.  As  always,  it  was  a  ques- 
tion of  transport.  Holding  the  sea,  England  held 
the  key  to  transport,  which  the  Turks  and  Ger- 
mans lacked.  El  Arish  was  taken  in  one  swift 
dash,  with  little  fighting,  and  the  Australians,  not 
even  pausing  to  rest,  plunged  on  to  Eaffa,  a  sea- 
coast  point  on  the  extreme  northeast  corner  of  the 
Sinai  Desert  and  just  within  the  Egyptian  bound- 
ary. 

Without  delay,  a  double-track  light  railway  was 
built  from  El-Kantara  on  the  Suez  Canal,  also  a 

iThis  is  the  real  "reedy  sea"  or  "Red  Sea"  of  the  Genesis  ac- 
count, not  the  present  Red  Sea,  nor  the  Gulf  of  Suez.  The 
mention  of  quails  shows  that  the  passage  was  near  the  Medi- 
terranean, not  toward  the  arid  parts  of  South  Arabia. 


railway  junction,  to  El  Arish  and  Raffa.  Both 
were  made  strong  military  bases,  with  railroad 
communications  to  Egypt.  Moreover,  docks  were 
built  and  harbors  made,  so  that  supplies  could 
come  by  sea.  The  first  great  link  in  the  Palestine 
campaign  was  made. 

It  was  shortly  after  this  important  advance, 
that  the  archaeologist  was  sent  for  by  his  friend, 
the  British  official.  He  found  him  in  consultation 
with  the  military  leaders,  amid  a  sea  of  charts, 
maps  and  aeroplane  photographs. 

"I  understand,  Professor  Surch,"  said  one  of 
the  generals,  "that  you  spent  quite  a  number  of 
years  in  Palestine.  I  wonder,  if,  by  any  chance, 
you  know  the  neighborhood  of  Beersheba?" 

* '  Yes, ' '  was  the  reply,  ' '  I  know  it  very  well.  I 
had  some  friends  among  the  Azazmeh  Bedouins 
and  paid  them  a  visit.  They  had  recently  suf- 
fered a  blood-feud  with  the  Jahaline  Bedouins, 
nearer  Gaza,  and  I  was  present  at  the  conference 
with  regard  to  the  payment  of  the  resultant  blood- 
debt." 

"Excellent!"  exclaimed  the  British  general 
heartily.  "I  suppose  you  would  have  no  objec- 
tion to  giving  us  some  information  as  to  the  to- 
pography?7' 


328      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

"On  the  contrary,  I  should  be  very  glad,"  the 
archaeologist  replied. 

"You  see,  Professor,  the  point  is  this,"  the  gen- 
eral explained.  " We've  got  excellent  maps, 
charts,  photographs  and  that  sort  of  thing,  and 
our  airmen  have  been  able  to  tell  us  where  the  Ger- 
man fortifications  lie,  but  information  on  details 
from  a  man  who  has  been  on  the  ground  is  often  of 
tremendous  value.  First  of  all,  let  me  ask  you 
if  it  is  impossible,  as  a  practicable  military  meas- 
ure, to  make  a  detour  on  the  eastern  side  of  the 
Dead  Sea  and  to  attack  Jericho  from  that  side?" 

"Absolutely  impossible,  I  should  say,"  the 
archaeologist  replied.  "The  Jordan  is  a  terribly 
deep  ravine,  with  sheer  precipices  on  the  eastern 
side,  2,000  feet  deep  in  places.  It  is  excessively 
rough,  volcanic  in  places,  with  outcrops  of  lava 
and  boiling  springs.  The  strata  of  rock  are 
twisted,  making  road-building  difficult,  if  not  im- 
possible. On  the  western  side  the  slopes  are 
gradual  and  ascent  to  the  plateau  is  made  by  steep 
ravines.  These,  however,  could  be  made  im- 
pregnable by  an  enemy,  I  should  say,  with  very 
little  labor." 

"And  how  about  the  river  itself,  Professor?" 

"The  Jordan,"  the  archaeologist  answered,  "is 


THE  UNCONQUERED  SANDS     329 

a  swift,  muddy,  crooked  stream.  Between  the 
Sea  of  Galilee  and  the  Dead  Sea  it  has  no  less 
than  twenty-seven  waterfalls  and  rapids,  and  falls 
a  thousand  feet.  The  valley  averages  eight  miles 
in  width  and  the  river  itself  varies  from  sixty  to 
two  hundred  feet  in  width.  In  spring  the  valley 
is  inundated  with  floods,  in  midsummer  there  are 
fords  which  can  be  passed  on  foot,  though  slowly 
and  with  difficulty. 

* '  The  valley  is  full  of  a  rank  vegetation,  mainly 
tamarack,  lotus,  willow,  bamboo,  and  greasewood. 
On  the  slopes  are  mustard  and  sage-brush.  Near 
the  river  it  is  swampy.  Malaria  is  rife  all  the 
year  round.  It  is  a  sweltering  hot-house,  collect- 
ing the  rays  of  the  sun,  the  ravine  being  so 
low  that  no  cool  wind  ever  reaches  it.  The  in- 
sect pests  are  even  worse  than  I  found  them  in 
Mesopotamia  and  poisonous  snakes  are  common. 
The  entire  Jordan  Valley  is  almost  impassable, 
utterly  uncultivated,  miasmatic,  and  almost  unin- 
habited. It  resembles  the  Bad  Lands  of  my 
country,  with  the  added  disadvantages  of  the  un- 
healthiest  part  of  the  swampy  tropical  jungle  of 
Mexico. ' '  . 

The  general  sat  back  in  his  chair  and  stared  at 
the  informant. 


330     WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

"The  people  of  the  Jordan  Valley  wouldn't 
thank  you  for  that  description,  Professor,"  he 
said. 

"There  are  none,"  answered  the  scholar.  "It 
is  a  death-trap.  Several  times  efforts  have  been 
made  to  cultivate  the  tropical  lands  in  the  valley, 
for  they  are  incredibly  fertile,  but  the  heat,  in- 
sects, snakes  and  malaria  take  too  heavy  a  toll. 
To  the  Bedouin,  crossing  the  Valley  of  the  Jordan 
is  a  feat  more  dangerous  than  crossing  the 
desert. ' ' 

1 '  Then  you  think  it  is  out  of  the  question  for  us 
to  flank  the  German  lines  by  a  long  detour  and 
attack  near  Jericho  ? ' ' 

"It  would  be  the  suicide  of  the  officers  and  the 
murder  of  the  men, ' '  was  the  quiet  reply,  given  in 
a  tone  which  carried  conviction. 

There  was  no  further  discussion  of  the  plan. 
The  American  had  spoken  with  a  certainty  of 
knowledge  and  a  drastic  positiveness  that  ad- 
mitted of  no  reply.  The  general  turned  to  a 
chart. 

"Then,  in  that  case,"  he  said,  "as  we  supposed, 
we  must  attack  the  German  line  directly,  and  they 
have  fortified  the  entire  lower  edge  of  Palestine 
from  Gaza  to  Beersheba." 


THE  UNCONQUERED  SANDS     331 

"But  not  beyond?"  asked  the  archaeologist 
quickly. 

"No,"  the  general  answered,  "but  Beersheba 
is  thirty  miles  in  from  the  sea  and  the  only  wells 
in  the  neighborhood  are  in  enemy  hands.  In 
front  of  their  position  runs  the  Wady  Ghuzzee, 
apparently  a  dry  stream." 

"With  steep  banks,"  put  in  the  archaeologist, 
' '  and  very  rugged  higher  up,  toward  Beersheba. ' ' 

' l  Now,  as  I  understand, ' '  the  general  continued, 
"in  front  of  Gaza  there  is  a  good  plain  for  ma- 
neuvering. If,  then,  we  can  cross  the  plain,  we 
ought  to  be  able  to  take  Gaza." 

The  archaeologist  followed  the  pointing  finger. 

"Yes,  General,"  he  said,  "but,  north  of  Gaza 
the  plain  becomes  narrow.  See  here.  Let  us 
look  at  it  from  the  Arabian  desert  and  go  west- 
wards. The  desert  is  a  high  table-land,  from 
which  rise  ridges  of  mountains.  The  plateau  is  an 
average  of  1,500  feet  above  sea-level.  "Westward 
of  this  line  of  desert  comes  the  canyon  of  the 
Jordan,  falling  in  places  far  below  sea-level. 
That,  as  I  said,  is  practically  impassable. 

"The  western  bank,  while  not  so  precipitous, 
rises  steeply  to  an  average  of  1,200  feet,  a  very 
hard  climb,  and  only  possible  by  going  up  the 


332      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

rocky  beds  of  wadys  cut  through  the  stony  soil. 
Then  you're  on  another  ridge,  but  not  a  flat  one. 
It  is  all  broken  up  by  cross  ridges  and  little  plains. 

"This  is  the  Plateau  of  Palestine.  On  the  west- 
ern side,  this  plateau  slopes  down  to  the  sea,  in 
steep  jumps.  These  jumps  are  crossed  every  few 
miles  by  wadys  or  sharp  cracks  in  the  stony  soil, 
through  which  the  torrents  run  in  the  spring  and 
which  are  stony  beds  the  rest  of  the  year. 
None  of  these  gullies  are  bridged.  Each  one  is 
a  difficult  obstacle  to  ordinary  foot-travel,  and  im- 
possible to  wheels.  How  an  army  would  cross 
them,  I  don't  know.  Then,  near  the  sea,  the  ridge 
comes  down  to  a  level  plain.  At  some  places  this 
plain  is  as  much  as  ten  miles  across,  at  others  it 
isn't  more  than  a  few  hundred  yards.  Gaza  is 
the  gate  to  this  plain." 

"Then  you  think,  as  I  do,  that  we'd  better  at- 
tack Gaza. ' ' 

"Why,  as  to  that,  General,"  the  archaeologist 
answered,  "I  have  nothing  to  say.  I  don't  pre- 
tend to  know  anything  about  military  tactics.  All 
I  can  do  is  tell  you  about  the  topography  of  the 
country,  so  far  as  I  know  it." 

But,  that  evening,  he  spoke  privately  to  his 
friend  the  vice-consul. 


THE  UNCONQUERED  SANDS    333 

"It's  no  business  of  mine,  of  course,"  he  said, 
"but  I  don't  think  much  of  that  idea  of  a  frontal 
attack  on  Gaza." 

"Why?"  asked  the  official. 

"Because  it's  easy  for  the  Turks  to  retire  along 
the  plain,  and  hold  position  after  position. ' ' 

"But  the  British  hold  the  sea  and  can  shell  the 
plain  from  warships,"  the  bfficial  protested. 

"That  does  make  it  a  bit  different,"  the  archae- 
ologist agreed,  but  he  looked  unconvinced. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  British  were  in  grave 
danger,  in  Egypt,  of  falling  into  the  same  error 
which  had  proved  so  costly  in  Mesopotamia.  The 
moment  that  they  had  begun  the  offensive,  they 
had  met  with  success.  El  Arish  and  Eaffa  had 
been  taken  with  lightning  strokes  and  with  but 
slight  loss.  This  bred  confidence  where  it  should 
have  bred  caution.  Moreover,  not  realizing  the 
thoroughness  of  General  Maude's  preparations, 
and  still  convinced  of  the  fact  that  the  occupation 
of  Bagdad  was  a  political  rather  than  a  military 
necessity,  England  had  begun  to  grow  timid  as  to 
a  strong  Turkish  counter-offensive  on  the  Tigris. 
General  Sir  Archibald  Murray,  in  Egypt,  there- 
fore, was  urged  to  march  with  speed  against  the 
Turkish  lines,  in  order  to  deflect  to  that  front 


334      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

possible  Turkish  reinforcements  which  might  be 
on  their  way  for  Mesopotamia. 

Working  in  close  cooperation  with  the  navy, 
General  Murray  determined  to  throw  his  main 
force  at  Gaza.  He  thrust  out  a  light  force  along 
the  Wady  Ghuzzee  to  protect  his  right  flank.  His 
left  flank  was  supported  by  the  sea. 

The  thrust  was  made  in  April,  1917.  It  met  at 
first  with  what  appeared  to  be  complete  success. 
The  defenses  of  Gaza  facing  southwest,  largely 
under  fire  of  the  warships '  guns,  were  carried  by 
storm  at  the  first  assault  and  the  British  forces 
entered  the  lines.  Under  the  combined  land  and 
sea  attack,  the  Turks  could  do  nothing  but  evacu- 
ate the  town. 

But  the  Turkish  Commander  had  shrewdly  an- 
ticipated this,  and  was  ready. 

No  sooner  had  the  British  forces  reached  the 
town,  thanking  their  lucky  stars  that  the  defense 
had  been  so  light,  than  there  poured  down  from 
the  ridge  above  the  Wady  Ghuzzee  the  full  body 
of  the  German  and  Turkish  troops,  which  had 
been  withdrawn  from  Gaza.  The  Turks  hurled 
themselves  like  an  avalanche  on  the  British  right, 
which  had  supposed  itself  to  be  merely  a  covering 


THE  UNCONQUERED  SANDS    335 

force  protecting  the  flank,  and  cut  it  to  pieces. 
Being  a  mobile  column  of  cavalry  and  camelry,  it 
had  no  chance  against  the  German-officered  light 
artillery  and  machine-gun  companies.  Compelled 
to  make  a  half -hour's  stand,  in  order  to  send  news 
to  the  main  body,  now  rejoicing  in  its  success  at 
Gaza,  the  British  right  flank  was  cut  to  pieces.  A 
very  small  remnant  galloped  back  to  the  main 
column. 

Attacked  in  flank  and  rear,  and  in  the  teeth  of 
the  terrible  danger  that  the  irregular  Arab  hosts 
allied  to  the  enemy  might  sweep  round  and  cut 
their  Line  of  Communications,  the  British  were 
compelled  to  relinquish  the  prize  they  had  gained. 

They  marched  out  of  Gaza  as  quickly  as  they 
had  marched  in,  and  only  by  stubborn  rearguard 
actions,  costly  in  their  character,  did  the  troops 
get  back  to  Raffa,  whence  they  had  started  a  few 
days  before. 

The  Sinai  Desert  had  proved  as  great  a  barrier 
to  the  British  as  to  the  Turks.  Waterless  and 
arid,  menacing  and  desolate,  it  stretched  between 
the  two  armies  confronting  each  other. 

The  war  had  changed  its  aspect.  It  was  no 
longer  a  question  as  to  whether  British  should 


336      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

conquer   Turk,    or   Turk   conquer   British.     The 
common  enemy  was  the  desert,  sand,  and  sun,  and 
sky.    Victory  would    rest   on  the  troops   which 
could  tame  that  grim  and  inhospitable  wild. 
The  question  was — which? 


CHAPTER  X 

THE  WINGS  OF  THE  MOBNING 

SNAKES  a-plenty  have  been  seen  in  Sinai,  but 
never  such  a  snake  as  this!  In  girth  as  large  as 
a  barrel,  in  length  nearly  two  hundred  miles ! 

Yet  this  was  a  life-dealing,  rather  than  a  death- 
dealing  form,  for  it  was  a  pipe-line  carrying  water 
across  a  thirsty  land. 

Months  had  come  and  gone.  England  had  been 
compelled  to  learn  in  Sinai,  as  she  had  learned  in 
Mesopotamia,  that  "Time  comes  from  Allah,  but 
Hurry  is  the  child  of  the  Evil  One."  The  com- 
mand of  the  operations  in  Palestine  had  been 
placed  in  the  hands  of  General  Sir  E.  H.  H.  Al- 
lenby,  who  had  made  a  remarkable  record  as  a 
military  leader  in  France.  General  Allenby  was, 
first,  last  and  all  the  time,  a  cavalry  man.  He 
was  chosen  because  of  his  astonishing  skill  in 
handling  mobile  forces  for  a  campaign  where  mo- 
bility was  essential. 

It  is  no  criticism  of  his  predecessor  to  state  that 

337 


338      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

Allenby  realized  the  one  great  essential  of  the 
campaign.  That  essential  was  water.  In  the 
same  fashion  General  Maude  had  seen  that  the 
prime  necessity  in  Mesopotamia  was  transport. 
Maude  would  not  move  without  ships,  Allenby 
would  not  move  without  water.  Moreover,  learn- 
ing from  the  vice-consul  that  the  American  archae- 
ologist was  a  man  with  very  decided  opinions  and 
with  an  intimate  knowledge  of  the  country,  Al- 
lenby and  his  staff  consulted  him  frequently. 

Wells  are  the  one  unchanging  feature  of  the 
East.  Cities  may  come  and  go,  rivers  may  change 
their  courses,  and  new  peoples  and  tongues  in- 
habit lands  that  never  knew  them,  but  the  wells 
change  never.  The  archaeologist,  in  his  wander- 
ings with  the  tribes  between  Beersheba  and  Gaza, 
knew  the  wells  visited  by  their  herdsmen,  for,  in 
that  nomadic  life,  the  well  is  the  all-important 
point  from  which  life  radiates. 

"It  is  curious,  General  Allenby,"  said  the 
archaeologist  one  night  at  Staff  Headquarters, 
"that  the  British  and  the  Germans  should  be 
striving  for  Beersheba.  The  finger  of  history  is 
writing  the  same  page  twice." 

"How  so,  Professor?" 

The  old  scholar  smiled,  and  leaning  back  in  his 


THE  WINGS  OF  THE  MORNING     339 

chair,  pulled  a  Bible  from  the  shelf  of  books  be- 
hind him. 

" Suppose,"  he  said,  ''that  instead  of  my  giving 
you  any  ideas  about  the  campaign,  we  find  out 
what  Abraham  did,  over  four  thousand  years 
ago. ' ' 

" Abraham!"  exclaimed  one  of  the  younger 
men. 

' '  Yes,  Abraham, ' '  the  archaBologist  said.  ' '  Will 
you  excuse  me  if  I  read  you  a  few  lines?  And, 
turning  to  the  Book  of  Genesis  he  read : 

"And  there  was  a  famine  in  the  land.  .  .  .  And 
Isaac  went  unto  Abimelech,  king  of  the  Philis- 
tines (who  dwelt)  in  Gerar.  Then  Isaac  sowed 
in  that  land  .  .  .  and  waxed  great,  for  he  had 
possession  of  flocks  and  possession  of  herds  and 
great  stores  of  servants  and  the  Philistines  en- 
vied him.  For  all  the  wells  which  his  father's 
servants  had  digged  in  the  days  of  Abraham  his 
father,  the  Philistines  had  stopped  them  and  filled 
them  with  earth.  And  Abimelech  said  unto 
Isaac : 

"  'Go  from  us,  for  thou  art  stronger  than  we.' 

"And  Isaac  departed  thence  and  pitched  his  tent 
in  the  valley  of  Gerar  and  dwelt  there.  And  Isaac 
digged  again  the  wells  of  water,  which  they  had 


340     WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

digged  in  the  time  of  Abraham  his  father,  for  the 
Philistines  had  stopped  them  up.  .  .  .  And  Isaac's 
servants  digged  in  the  valley  and  found  there  a 
well  of  springing  water. 

"And  the  herdsmen  (of  the  Philistines  who 
dwelt)  in  Gerar  strove  with  Isaac's  herdsmen, 
saying : 

4 '  '  The  water  is  ours ! ' 

"And  they  digged  another  well  and  there  was 
strife  for  that  also. 

"And  Isaac  removed  from  thence  and  digged 
another  well,  and  for  that  they  strove  not,  and  he 
called  the  name  of  it  Kehoboth.  .  .  . 

"And  he  went  up  from  thence  to  Beersheba. 
And  he  builded  an  altar  there  and  pitched  his  tent 
there,  and  there  Isaac's  servants  digged  a  well 
.  .  .  And  it  came  to  pass  the  same  day  (that 
Abimelech  visited  Isaac  and  made  an  alliance  with 
him)  that  Isaac's  servants  came  and  told  him  con- 
cerning the  well  which  they  had  digged,  and  said 
unto  him: 

"  'We  have  found  water.' 

"And  he  called  it  Shebah,  therefore  the  name  of 
the  city  is  Beersheba  to  this  day. ' ' 

The  archaeologist  laid  the  book  down  and  looked 
at  the  circle  of  interested  faces  around  him. 


THE  WINGS  OF  THE  MORNING     341 

"Gerar,  the  former  headquarters  of  the  King  of 
the  Philistines,"  he  said,  ''lies  on  the  Wady 
Ghuzzee  just  below  Gaza.  It  is  the  actual  head- 
quarters of  the  Germans  to-day.  The  ridge  as 
far  as  El  Buweika,  the  central  point  of  the  Ger- 
man defense,  was  the  line  offensively  defended  by 
the  Philistines.  The  wells  at  Beersheba,  which 
were  built  by  Isaac,  under  an  alliance  with  the 
King  of  Philistines,  are  now  the  eastern  end  of 
the  German  line.  Therefore,  gentlemen,  the  Ger- 
man-Turkish defense  line  of  to-day  is  the  Phi- 
listine line  of  four  thousand  years  ago. ' ' 

"But  this  is  wonderful!"  ejaculated  one  of  the 
staff  officers. 

"Now,"  continued  the  archaeologist,  "I  have 
noticed,  when  dealing  with  Eastern  matters,  that 
it  is  always  well  to  see  what  has  been  done  in  ages 
before  by  people  in  similar  conditions.  Let  us 
consider  the  parallel. 

"When  the  Philistines  held  Gerar  and  Gaza, 
Isaac's  chief  need  was  water.  Now  that  the  Ger- 
mans hold  Gaza,  your  chief  need  is  water.  Am  I 
correct  1 ' ' 

"Precisely,"  the  general  answered. 

"Now,  in  similar  case,  Isaac  went  down  into  the 
Wady  Ghuzzee  and  dug  two  wells.  He  found 


342 

water  in  both.  The  wady,  however,  was  under  the 
domination  of  the  ridge,  just  as  it  would  be  to- 
day, and  from  the  two  wells  that  he  did  dig,  he 
was  driven  away  by  the  Philistine  herdsmen. 
You  couldn't  dig  wells  there  now,  gentlemen,  be- 
cause you  would  be  under  the  guns  of  the  Ger- 
mans. Am  I  correct  so  far?" 

"Absolutely,"  came  the  reply. 

"Good,  then.  Now,  gentlemen,  what  did  Isaac 
do?  He  went  south  beyond  the  line  of  the  Wady 
Ghuzzee,  and  in  the  open  desert,  in  a  slight  de- 
pression, he  dug  a  well.  Please  observe  not  only 
that  he  found  water,  but  that  he  accepted  this  as 
evidence  of  his  future  prosperity,  because  he  had 
tapped  the  underground  springs  of  a  water  at  a 
new  place,  where  never  a  well  had  been  dug  be- 
fore. This  well  he  called  Eehoboth. 

"Gentlemen,  if  there  was  a  well  there  in  Isaac's 
time,  there  is  one  there  now.  If  there  was  a  vein 
of  water  under  the  desert  in  Isaac's  time,  it  is 
there  now.  Four  thousand  years  have  passed 
since  the  well  at  Eehoboth  saved  Isaac,  but  it  may 
save  you. ' ' 

General  Allenby  sat  in  his  characteristic  posi- 
tion, his  chin  resting  on  both  clasped  hands,  his 
half -closed  eyes  studying  the  face  of  the  scientist. 


THE  WINGS  OF  THE  MORNING     343 

"If  there's  a  vein  of  water  there — "  he  began, 
then  stopped,  evidently  unwilling  to  express  a 
doubt.  "Well,  Professor  Surch,"  he  continued, 
"a  thousand  years  later  the  Philistines  were  de- 
feated by  Samson,  and  their  temple  of  Dagon  was 
pulled  into  ruins,  wasn't  it?  We'll  take  that  for 
an  omen." 

Next  morning,  at  daybreak,  a  party  of  engineers 
was  on  its  way  to  Rehoboth,  where  Isaac's  serv- 
ants had  dug  a  well.  Though  the  winds  of  the 
desert  had  blown  it  full  of  sand  and  it  had  long 
been  abandoned,  because  of  the  proximity  of  the 
better  wells  of  Beersheba,  the  old  maps  of  the 
region  pointed  so  closely  to  the  spot,  that  after 
no  more  than  two  days '  survey,  the  pit  or  depres- 
sion was  found. 

There  the  British  digged  a  well,  and  there  they 
found  water.  Modern  engineering  methods  soon 
developed  from  Rehoboth,  El-Khalasa,  and  Bir- 
Ashug  which  lie  on  the  same  vein  of  water  that 
it  tapped,  a  deep  and  permanent  supply.  Pump- 
ing-engines  were  installed  and  long  concrete  con- 
duits made,  so  that  large  numbers  of  men  and 
animals  could  be  watered  without  unnecessary  de- 
lay. By  this,  one  of  the  greatest  difficulties  of 
military  movements  in  the  East  was  avoided.  At 


344      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

the  same  time,  the  pipe-line  carried  water  from 
Egypt  to  the  British  base  in  Palestine. 

A  good  example  of  General  Allenby's  pre- 
caution is  seen  in  the  fact  that,  although  the 
wells  at  Beersheba  were  among  the  best  in  Pales- 
tine, he  would  not  risk  the  safety  of  his  troops 
upon  the  probability  of  the  capture  of  those  wells. 

In  his  official  report,  he  said : 

"Arrangements  had  to  be  made  to  insure  that 
the  troops  could  be  kept  supplied  with  water  while 
operating  at  considerable  distances  from  their 
original  water  base  for  a  period  which  might 
amount  to  a  week  or  more,  for,  though  it  was 
known  that  an  ample  supply  of  water  existed  at 
Beersheba,  it  was  uncertain  how  quickly  it  could 
be  developed  or  to  what  extent  the  enemy  would 
have  damaged  the  wells  before  we  succeeded  in 
occupying  the  town.  Except  at  Beersheba,  no 
large  supply  of  water  would  be  found  until  Sheria 
and  Hereira  had  been  captured." 

For  this  reason,  not  only  did  General  Allenby 
develop  the  wells  that  Isaac  had  dug  until  they 
were  deep  enough  and  large  enough  to  supply  an 
army,  but  he  ran  two  military  railways  inland 
from  the  line  running  to  Raffa,  one  line  south  of 
the  Wady  Ghuzzee,  the  other  as  close  to  it  as  the 


THE  WINGS  OF  THE  MORNING     345 

covering  of  the  German-Turkish  guns  would  allow. 

In  addition  to  this,  Allenby  did  not  stop  collect- 
ing camels  until  he  had  30,000  baggage-camels 
alone  supplying  one  sector  of  his  advance  lines. 
At  the  average  distance  which  one  camel  paces  be- 
hind another,  this  would  make  a  line  of  camels  a 
hundred  miles  long. 

The  German-Turkish  position  was  excessively 
strong.  From  the  Jerusalem  railway,  two  sub- 
stantial lines  had  been  built,  with  branches  that 
touched  at  the  five  principal  points  of  the  de- 
fenses. Not  only  that,  but,  at  cost  of  extreme 
labor  and  high  expense,  a  well-metaled  solid 
motor-road  had  been  built  from  Gaza  to  Beer- 
sheba.  This  had  necessitated  a  number  of  high 
bridges,  and  difficult  engineering  in  the  rocky  de- 
files, but  it  had  made  the  German- Turkish  posi- 
tion so  strong  as  to  appear  almost  impregnable. 

With  the  Sinai  Desert  as  a  barrier,  the  Gaza-to- 
Beersheba  line  seemed  as  secure  as  the  line  of  the 
Suez  Canal.  The  six  groups  of  works  were  only 
2,000  yards  apart  from  each  other,  and  formed  six 
forts,  Gaza  being  reckoned  as  a  modern  fort  of  the 
first  order,  comparable  to  Verdun.  Complete 
trench  systems  linked  the  whole  front.  The  rail- 
ways had  brought  all  the  heavy  German  and  Aus- 


346      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

trian  artillery  that  was  needed.  There  were 
180,000  men  holding  the  line,  and  two  great  mili- 
tary leaders,  General  von  Falkenhayn  for  the 
Germans  and  Enver  Pasha  for  the  Turks,  were 
conducting  the  operations. 

The  first  British  attack  under  General  Murray, 
which  had  resulted  in  disaster,  had  been  made  at 
Gaza.  General  Allenby  decided  to  attack  the 
other  end  of  the  line,  but  to  do  so  entirely 
secretly,  masking  this  attack  by  a  prolonged  bom- 
bardment of  Gaza.  He  figured  that  if  Gaza  were 
bombarded  for  four  days,  both  by  land  and  sea, 
the  Germans  would  be  convinced  that  such  a  long 
artillery  preparation  could  only  be  meant  as  a 
prelude  to  assault,  and  that  they  would  reenf  orce 
the  crucial  point. 

At  the  end  of  the  four  days,  an  attack  would  be 
made  frontally  and  to  the  rear  of  Beersheba,  the 
troops  being  hurled  not  at  the  points  best  pro- 
tected with  guns,  but  at  the  points  most  difficult  of 
access.  The  Italian  Campaign  in  the  Alps  had 
taught  the  Allies  that  almost  impossible  heights 
can  be  scaled  by  a  modern  army,  and  that  even 
the  exhaustion  and  difficulty  of  such  toil  is  less 
injurious  than  open  charges  in  the  face  of  ma- 
chine-gun fire. 


THE  WINGS  OF  THE  MORNING     347 

Out,  then,  from  the  line  of  the  wells  dug  by 
Isaac's  servants  four  thousand  years  before, 
swept  two  great  arcs  of  cavalry  and  mounted  in- 
fantry. One  column  made  a  night  march  of  25 
miles,  the  other  of  35  miles.  In  a  still  wider  arc, 
tens  of  thousands  of  bobbing  camels  toiled  across 
the  stony  and  rugged  ways  with  food,  water,  and 
munitions.  Thirty  thousand  camels  in  caravan 
was  almost  as  good  as  a  railroad ! 

Punctual  to  the  minute,  the  five  different  col- 
umns commenced  attack.  Points  which  had  been 
believed  inaccessible  were,  at  a  given  moment,  seen 
covered  with  men;  regions  so  far  removed  from 
water  that  it  was  not  believed  that  200  men  could 
reach  them,  were  occupied  by  20,000  men  with  full 
supplies  of  war  material.  The  Turks  were  taken 
utterly  by  surprise.  They  defended  themselves 
gallantly,  but  were  utterly  unprepared  for  an  at- 
tack in  such  force  and  at  so  many  different  points. 
Even  so,  it  was  not  until  evening  that  the  infantry 
scaled  the  last  heights  above  Beersheba  and  the 
Australian  Light  Horse  broke  through  the  outer 
defenses  and  dashed  across  the  narrow  plain  sur- 
rounding the  town. 

With  Beersheba  in  British  hands,  the  German- 
Turkish  line  was  seriously  crippled,  for  the  hold- 


348      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

ing  of  that  corner  enabled  Allenby  to  bring  his 
troops  up  on  the  higher  parts  of  the  plateau. 
Gaza,  down  on  the  coastal  plain,  was  flanked. 

With  admirable  military  skill,  the  German  and 
Turkish  forces  concentrated  at  the  middle  of  the 
line,  evidently  with  the  intention  to  stand  off  the 
main  British  attack  and  to  send  a  hostile  force  into 
the  Wady  Ghuzzee,  just  as  did  the  Philistines,  to 
strike  southwest  and  cut  the  line  of  communica- 
tions by  which  the  eastern  force  was  operating. 
A  little  timidity  here  might  have  lost  the  British 
all  that  they  had  gained. 

Allenby  would  not  xzhange  his  plans  an  inch. 
Bidding  his  men  hold  the  middle  of  the  line  as 
best  they  could,  he  struck  at  Gaza,  and,  while  the 
actual  attack  was  in  progress,  whirled  off  some  of 
the  troops  for  a  diagonal  attack  at  Sheria,  which 
commanded  the  middle  portion  of  the  line.  This 
checked  the  assault  on  Gaza,  and  the  Turks  were 
congratulating  themselves  on  having  fought  off 
the  assault,  when  news  came  that  Sheria  was 
breaking.  The  British  had  straddled  the  motor 
road.  All  this  work  was  done  by  infantry. 

Then,  once  again,  came  Allenby  Is  power  as  a 
cavalry  leader.  The  horses  and  men  of  the 
cavalry,  refreshed  and  unwearied,  for  they  had 


THE  WINGS  OF  THE  MORNING     349 

been  resting  during  this  phase,  were  sent  north 
like  the  flight  of  an  arrow,  to  cover  and  hold  the 
main  Palestine  ridge  that  rises  between  the  canyon 
of  the  Jordan  and  the  coastal  plain.  They  could 
not  overtake  the  Turkish  Army  fleeing  from  Beer- 
sheba,  for  the  check  at  Sheria  had  given  the  former 
time  to  escape,  but,  by  quick  action,  they  could 
cut  off  the  road  from  Gaza  to  Jerusalem  and  thus 
prevent  the  main  German-Turkish  army  holding 
the  coastal  plain  from  climbing  up  to  the  ridge. 
Both  the  railway  termini  were  seized  and  a  flying 
column  was  pushed  still  further  north  to  hold 
the  principal  wady  paths  rising  from  the  plain  to 
the  ridge. 

Allenby,  by  nature  and  training  a  cavalry  com- 
mander, kept  his  infantry  to  finish  with  Gaza,  and 
then  swung  every  mounted  man  that  he  could  find, 
horse  and  camel  alike,  into  the  holding  of  ad- 
vanced points.  One  station  after  another  on  the 
two  railways  was  seized.  Clouds  of  cavalry  hung 
on  the  Turks'  flanks.  Powerful  squadrons  of 
aeroplanes  dropped  bombs,  and,  sweeping  low, 
combed  the  fleeing  Turks  with  machine-gun  fire. 
Meanwhile  a  division  of  infantry,  marching  light, 
and  covered  by  the  Imperial  Camel  Corps,  forced 
its  way  north  to  the  main  railway  line  from  Jaffa 


350     WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

to  Jerusalem.  This  being  straddled,  the  whole 
advance  halted  to  re-form. 

It  was  at  this  point  that  an  Arab  Sheik  cantered 
up  to  the  British  lines  and  asked  to  see  the  Com- 
mander. On  meeting  the  general,  he  salaamed, 
and  said : 

"The  Bedouins  have  a  prophecy,  that  when,  by 
the  will  of  Allah,  the  Nile  shall  flow  into  Palestine, 
then  the  prophet  from  the  west  shall  drive  the 
Turk  from  the  lands  of  the  Bedouin  and  the  Bed- 
ouin shall  be  free.  My  young  men  have  told  me 
that  a  great  miracle  has  been  wrought,  and  that 
the  Franji  have  made  a  great  pipe  by  which  the 
water  from  the  Nile  flows  into  Palestine.  Is  that 
true?" 

"Water  from  the  Nile  basin,"  said  General 
Allenby,  making  a  slight  correction,  "yes,  that  is 
true." 

' '  Then  the  Turk  is  doomed  by  the  will  of  Allah 
to  go,"  answered  the  Arab,  "and  my  people  are 
brothers  with  you. ' ' 

And  thus  began  one  of  the  curious  alliances  with 
the  roving  Bedouins  which  hug  the  ridges  on  either 
side  of  the  Jordan,  an  alliance  which  proved  ex- 
cessively valuable  later  in  the  campaign. 

Presently   the   reinforcements   came   up,  new 


THE  WINGS  OF  THE  MORNING     351 

military  bases  were  established,  old  wells,  a  hun- 
dred feet  deep,  were  enlarged  and  modern  pump- 
ing facilities  established  instead  of  the  primitive 
hand-worked  bucket  and  wheel,  and  General 
Allenby  was  ready  to  face  the  problem  of  taking 
Jerusalem.  Not  only  was  he  too  wise  a  com- 
mander, but  he  was  also  too  reverent  a  man,  to 
bring  the  destructive  force  of  modern  artillery 
against  a  city  which  is  held  sacred  by  Christian, 
Mohammedan  and  Jew  alike,  and  he  organized 
his  campaign  in  such  a  way  that  all  the  fighting 
should  take  place  at  some  distance  from  the  Holy 
City,  so  that,  at  the  last,  it  might  be  surrounded 
and  compelled  to  surrender  peacefully.  Largely 
as  a  result  of  this  carefulness,  the  ensuing  fighting 
was  bitter,  for  the  British  were  compelled  to  allow 
the  enemy  to  choose  the  best  positions  for  de- 
fense. 

1  'On  December  10,"  wrote  an  eye-witness,  "a 
sudden  panic  fell  on  the  Turks,  the  British  troops 
having  passed  Lif  ta,  and  being  within  sight  of  the 
city.  A  Turkish  transport  column,  galloping 
furiously  along  the  Jaffa  road,  alarmed  all  units 
within  sight  or  hearing  and  the  wearied  infantry 
arose  and  fled,  bootless  and  without  rifles,  never 
pausing  to  think  or  fight.  Some  were  flogged  from 


352      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

behind  by  officers  and  compelled  to  pick  tip  their 
arms,  others  staggered  on  through  the  mud,  aug- 
menting the  confusion  of  retreat.  After  four 
centuries  of  conquest,  the  Turk  was  ridding  the 
land  of  his  presence  in  the  bitterness  of  defeat, 
and  a  great  enthusiasm  arose  among  the  Jews. 

"  'The  Turks  are  running  away,'  they  cried, 
'the  day  of  deliverance  is  come.' 

"Towards  midnight,  the  Governor,  Izzet  Bey, 
went  personally  to  the  telegraph  office,  discharged 
the  staff  and  personally  smashed  the  instruments 
with  a  hammer.  From  two  o'clock  until  seven 
o'clock  that  morning  the  Turks  streamed  through 
and  out  of  the  city,  which  echoed  for  the  last  time 
to  their  shuffling  tramp. 

"On  this  same  day,  2,082  years  before,  another 
race  of  conquerors,  equally  detested,  were  looking 
their  last  on  a  city  which  they  could  not  hold.  .  .  . 
It  was  fitting  that  the  flight  of  the  Turks  should 
have  coincided  with  the  national  Jewish  festival 
of  the  Hanookah,  which  commemorates  the  re- 
capture of  the  Temple  from  the  heathen  Seleucids 
by  Judas  Maccabeus,  'the  hammer  of  God,'  in 
165  B.  c. 

"The  Governor  was  the  last  civil  official  to  de- 
part. Before  the  dawn  he  hastened  down  the 


353 

Jericho  road,  leaving  behind  him  a  letter  of  sur- 
render, which  the  Mayor,  as  the  sun  rose,  set  forth 
to  deliver  to  the  British  commander,  accompanied 
by  a  few  frightened  policemen  holding  tremulous 
white  flags." 

Nineteen  years  before,  when  the  Kaiser  in  his 
fantastic  political  pilgrimage  to  the  East  had 
visited  Jerusalem,  none  of  the  gates  was  wide 
enough  for  him  to  enter  and  a  portion  of  the  wall 
had  to  be  broken  down  to  admit  his  carriage,  a 
reminder  of  the  saying: 

"It  is  easier  for  a  camel  to  go  through  (that 
gate  of  Jerusalem  which  is  named)  The  Eye  of  a 
Needle  than  for  a  rich  (riches-worshiping)  man 
to  enter  the  Kingdom  of  God. ' ' 

With  a  simple  reverence  that  has  echoed  round 
the  world,  General  Allenby,  the  conqueror,  the 
victor  of  the  last  crusade,  entered  the  Jaffa  Gate 
on  foot,  his  staff  behind  him  on  foot,  without 
pomp  or  display,  and  with  the  regimental  band 
silent.  A  proclamation,  reverent  and  dignified^ 
even  tender  in  its  wording,  was  read  in  English, 
French,  Italian,  and  Arabic,  stating  that  all  the 
hallowed  sites  of  the  three  great  religions,  Chris- 
tian, Mohammedan,  and  Jewish,  were  to  be  pre- 
served and  guarded,  and  that  the  chief  British  de- 


354     WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

sire  was  to  keep  inviolate  a  city  which  all  the 
world  revered.  The  chief  ecclesiastics  and  civic 
officials  were  then  presented  to  the  victor,  who 
left  the  city  on  foot  as  he  had  entered  it. 

This  reminded  the  old  archaeologist  of  the  great 
entrance  of  the  victors  of  the  First  Crusade,  when 
the  gallant  Frenchman,  Godfrey  of  Bouillon, 
elected  King  of  Jerusalem,  declined  to  wear  a 
crown  in  a  city  where  His  Master  had  worn 
thorns,  and  contented  himself  with  the  title 
"Baron  and  Defender  of  the  Holy  Sepulcher." 

A  couple  of  weeks  after  the  British  entrance  to 
Jerusalem,  the  archaeologist  obtained  permission 
from  the  authorities  to  come  to  the  city,  and  met 
one  of  the  British  officers  outside  the  reputed 
Tomb  of  Christ,  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepul- 
cher.  The  officer's  face  bore  a  look  of  horror. 

"I  have  been  here  a  great  many  times,"  said 
the  archaeologist,  appreciating  his  feeling,  "and 
I  always  come  with  regret.  Jerusalem  is  the  most 
unlovely  and  disappointing  city  in  the  world." 

The  officer  turned  to  him.  He  was  a  soldier  of 
many  hard  campaigns,  but  his  voice  was  trembling 
with  anger  and  disgust  as  he  answered : 

"It  is  awful!  What  ought  to  be  the  most  beau- 
tiful spot  on  earth  is  one  of  the  vilest.  Look  at 


British  Official  Photo. 

"  REVERENTLY,  AND  ON  FOOT,  THE  VICTOR  ENTERED." 

General  Allenby  making  his  official  entry  into  Jerusalem  through  the 

Jaffa  Gate,  attended  hy  French  and  Italian  officers. 


THE  WINGS  OF  THE  MORNING     355 

the  streets  leading  to  this,  supposed  to  be  the  most 
sacred  spot  on  the  globe!  Garbage,  slops,  and 
offal  of  every  kind  are  dumped  into  the  streets 
for  the  dogs  to  eat,  one  has  to  hold  one's  nose  to 
reach  here.  The  Way  of  the  Cross  is  a  pestilen- 
tial danger. 

"Here,  at  the  entrance  to  the  shrine,  the  ear  is 
deafened  by  the  shrill  cries  of  peddlers  selling 
fake  relics,  and  the  eye  is  offended  by  rows  of 
beggars  showing  repulsive  sores  to  try  to  get 
baksheesh.  The  Roman  Catholic,  Greek  Catholic, 
Russian  Orthodox,  and  Protestant  Christians 
quarrel  and  swear  and  fight  over  their  prayers. 
Guards  have  to  be  set  to  keep  each  Christian  body 
apart,  and  they  have  to  come  at  different  hours. 
Never,  even  in  battle,  have  I  seen  eyes  so  full  of 
hate  as  around  the  Tomb  of  Christ.  When  the 
Turks  kept  guard  with  loaded  guns  to  keep  the 
Christians  from  killing  each  other  here,  in  the 
Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulcher,  they  were  doing  the 
only  thing  possible.  We  have  to  do  the  same. 
How  can  we  better  the  sectarian  strife!  What 
can  we  do  ? 

"And  the  fraud,  Professor!  Three-fourths  of 
the  population  of  Jerusalem  are  professional 
swindlers.  Not  one  of  the  trees  on  the  Mount  of 


356      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

Olives  has  been  as  much  as  trimmed  for  fifty 
years,  yet  a  thousand  wagon-loads  of  olive-wood 
relics  are  sold  annually,  each  tiny  article  of  which 
is  guaranteed  to  have  come  from  the  Mount. 
There  are  two  Gardens  of  Gethsemane,  and  though 
the  olive-trees  in  the  gardens  have  ceased  to  bear 
fruit  for  fifty  years,  the  monks  sell  a  thousand 
gallons  of  sacred  oil  annually,  in  tiny  bottles. 
The  Pool  of  Siloam  is  a  slimy  horror  and  the 
sacred  water  is  a  breeder  of  disease.  It  is  a  city 
melancholy  mad.  Plague  stalks  in  the  streets. 
Murder  fills  the  air. 

"The  streets  inside  Jerusalem  are  as  unsafe  by 
night  as  they  are  repulsive  by  day.  Even  now 
that  we  are  here,  we  are  compelled  to  warn 
strangers  against  wandering  out  by  dark.  In  the 
older  portions  of  the  city  there  are  no  street  lights, 
not  even  petroleum  lamps.  When  darkness  falls, 
the  bazaars  are  closed,  the  shutters  are  put  up, 
the  camels  and  donkeys  are  turned  into  the  corrals 
at  the  khans,  and  the  people  retire  behind  the 
blank,  windowless  walls  that  hide  their  habita- 
tions. Those  who  are  compelled  to  go  out  on 
honest  business  at  night,  go  fully  armed  and  have 
lanterns  carried  before  them.  In  passing  through 
the  streets  at  night,  a  stranger  is  apt  to  be  touched 


THE  WINGS  OF  THE  MORNING     357 

by  a  leper,  bitten  by  a  dog,  or  stabbed  by  a  Mo- 
hammedan fanatic. ' '  * 

1  'But  you  will  soon  change  all  that!"  declared 
the  American  hopefully. 

''As  much  of  it  as  we  dare.  But,  I  suppose  be- 
cause I  am  an  Englishman,  it  irks  me  sorely  to 
see  that  the  only  decent  piece  of  architecture  in 
the  Holy  City  is  the  Mohammedan  Mosque  of 
Omar,  on  the  site  of  Solomon's  Temple.  And  it 
is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  buildings  in  the  whole 
world." 

1  ' Will  the  Jews  rebuild  the  Temple?" 

The  officer  shrugged  his  shoulders. 

"How  can  we  give  the  site  to  the  Jews!  We 
have  already  promised  to  protect  every  shrine," 
he  said,  "and  in  the  Mosque  of  Omar  is  the  stone 
which  Mohammed's  foot  last  touched  when  he 
departed  for  heaven,  or  so  tradition  states. ' '  He 
broke  off  suddenly.  "Here,  let's  get  away  to  the 
European  quarter,  Professor,"  he  said,  "I  can't 
stand  much  of  this ! ' ' 

The  archaeologist  smiled  rather  sadly  and  fol- 
lowed. To  him  the  Holy  City  was  less  repulsive, 
for  he  had  lived  in  the  East  many  years  and  was 

i  "To-day  in  Syria  and  Palestine."  by  W.  E.  Curtis  (Fleming 
H.  Revell  Co.). 


358      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

accustomed  to  dirt,  smells,  neglect,  knavery  and 
violence.  He  could  see  beneath  the  surface,  also, 
and  felt  the  reverence  for  places  that  had  been 
hallowed  for  thousands  of  years.  And  he  thought, 
as  he  struggled  through  the  foul  streets,  that  if 
England  could  make  Jerusalem  worthy  of  its 
great  traditions,  the  work  would  be  worthy  of 
England's  greatest  endeavor. 

To  most  of  the  British  officers,  it  was  a  distinct 
relief  when  the  Turks  returned  and  with  a  count- 
er-attack, strove  to  regain  the  Holy  City.  True, 
their  camp  was  outside  the  walls,  but  the  fanatic 
gloom  of  Jerusalem  reached  even  there. 

The  troops  dashed  out  at  the  enemy  entrenched 
upon  the  hills  and  threw  them  back  in  disorder. 
The  Turks  resisted  stubbornly  and  losses  were 
heavy  on  both  sides.  The  hills  around  Jerusalem 
were  drenched  in  blood.  Success  lay  with  the 
British  largely  because  of  the  control  of  the  air, 
which  prevented  the  Turks  from  learning  British 
troop  movements,  and,  at  the  same  time,  revealed 
every  Turkish  movement  to  the  British. 

The  hills  thus  gained,  General  Allenby  decided 
to  take  Jericho.  Now,  the  walls  of  the  city  of 
Jericho  may  have  fallen  during  the  campaign  by 
Joshua  after  a  six-days'  encircling  of  them  and  a 


THE  WINGS  OF  THE  MORNING     359 

great  blowing  of  trumpets,  but  General  Allenby 
recognized  that  modern  war  has  taken  on  other 
aspects. 

His  preparations  for  the  taking  of  Jericho  were 
detailed  and  difficult.  A  famous  city  was  Jericho, 
almost  the  only  oasis  in  the  Valley  of  the  Jordan. 
Herod  the  Great  built  a  great  city  there,  a  city  of 
palaces,  with  an  amphitheater,  temples  and  a  uni- 
versity which  was  borrowed  from  the  models  of 
Greece.  He  gave  the  city  as  a  gift  to  Cleopatra, 
before  the  Queen  of  Egypt  had  met  Mark  Antony. 
It  was  to  this  city  that  Christ  came  and  stayed 
with  Zacchaeus,  the  tax-gatherer  who  had  climbed 
a  tree  to  see  the  passing  of  the  new  prophet. 

1 '  There  are  only  three  routes  possible  to  human 
beings  between  Jerusalem  and  Jericho/*  says  a 
modern  writer. 

General  Allenby  took  none  of  these. 

The  descent  into  the  Valley  of  the  Jordan  is  a 
terrible  descent,  and,  in  his  official  report,  the 
British  commander  says : 

"Compelled  to  move  in  single  file  over  tracks 
which  were  exposed  to  machine-gun  fire  from  the 
enemy's  position,  and  which  had  been  registered 
accurately  by  the  enemy's  guns,  the  progress  of 
the  mounted  troops  was  necessarily  slow.  By  two 


360      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

p.  M.,  however,  the  enemy  was  driven  from  his 
position. ' ' 

Some  idea  of  the  incredible  roughness  and  ap- 
parent impossibility  of  the  ground  is  found  in  the 
fact  that  it  took  a  field  artillery  battery  thirty-six 
hours  to  cover  a  distance,  as  the  crow  flies,  of  only 
eight  miles. 

Jericho  thus  taken,  the  right  flank  of  the  British 
Army  was  safe  and  Jerusalem  was  secure  against 
any  possible  hostile  action.  The  left  flank  rested 
on  Jaffa,  an  ancient  port  from  which  Jonah 
started  on  the  voyage  when  he  was  said  to  have 
been  swallowed  by  a  sea-monster,  and  where  the 
Apostle  St.  Peter  saw  his  famous  vision  in  the 
house  of  Simon  the  tanner.  Being  a  seaport,  and 
under  protection  of  the  guns  of  British  warships, 
the  left  flank  was  secure. 

It  was  at  this  point  that  the  archaeologist  re- 
sumed his  usefulness.  In  cooperation  with 
British  officers,  acting  partly  as  an  interpreter, 
but  in  reality  more  as  a  consultant,  he  visited  the 
Arab  tribes  southeast  of  the  Dead  Sea,  and  ar- 
ranged an  alliance  with  the  Shereef  of  the  Hedjaz, 
Emir  or  Prince  Faisal.  Thus  supported,  General 
Allenby  was  ready  to  cross  the  Jordan  and  attack 
the  Hedjaz  Railway.  The  campaign  of  conquer- 


THE  WINGS  OF  THE  MORNING     361 

ing  the  heights  on  the  western  side  of  the  Jordan 
and  then  of  crossing  it  was  of  almost  unparalleled 
difficulty. 

* '  The  ground  over  which  the  advance  is  to  take 
place,"  wrote  General  Allenby,  "is  rugged  and 
difficult.  A  succession  of  high  and  rocky  ridges, 
separated  by  deep  valleys,  afforded  the  enemy  a 
series  of  positions  of  great  strength.  The  slopes 
of  the  ridges  are  in  many  places  precipitous. 
Ledges  of  rock  confine  the  descent  to  definite 
places  on  which  the  enemy  could  concentrate  his 
fire.  It  was  impossible  for  companies  and  pla- 
toons to  move  on  a  wide  front.  The  slopes  were 
swept  by  machine-gun  and  rifle  fire  and  the  bot- 
toms of  the  wadies  by  enfilade  fire.  The  ascent  on 
the  far  side  was  deeply  terraced.  Men  had  alter- 
nately to  hoist  and  pull  each  other  up,  under  fire, 
and  finally  to  expel  the  enemy  from  the  summits 
by  hand-to-hand  fighting. ' ' 

Nor  was  the  Jordan  any  more  friendly  to  the 
British  than  it  had  generally  proved  to  armies 
which  had  tried  to  cross  it  during  the  ages  of  his- 
tory. 

"The  Jordan,"  wrote  General  Allenby,  "is  un- 
fordable  at  this  time  of  year  (March).  The  cur- 
rent is  at  all  times  rapid,  and  is  liable  to  sudden 


362      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

floods,  which  render  the  banks  boggy  and  difficult 
of  approach  for  transport.  On  March  28,  it  rose 
nine  feet.  The  rain  which  fell  during  the  opera- 
tions rendered  the  tracks  in  the  hills  slippery  and 
the  movement  of  horses,  and  especially  of  camels, 
slow  and  difficult. ' ' 

The  fortunes  of  war  wavered  to  and  fro  during 
this  difficult  campaign,  the  Turks,  on  one  occasion, 
having  secured  nine  British  guns,  which,  Allenby 
remarks,  "were  unable  to  traverse  the  intricate 
ground. ' ' 

Yet  the  Jordan  was  crossed  by  sheer  endurance 
and  strength.  No  kindly  landslip  occurred  to 
dam  back  the  Jordan  as  happened  in  about  1200 
B.  c.  when  the  Children  of  Israel  crossed  the 
Jordan  under  Joshua,  or  as  in  1267  A.  D.  when  the 
same  phenomenon  was  repeated  during  the  build- 
ing of  a  bridge  across  Jordan  by  Sultan  Beybars 
I  of  Egypt. 

Jordan  crossed  and  the  British  Army  conjoined 
with  the  forces  of  the  Bedouin  tribes  of  the  Hed- 
jaz  on  the  plains  of  Moab,  the  taking  of  the  Hed- 
jaz  Bailway  was  a  campaign  of  only  moderate 
difficulty.  Encamped  on  the  heights,  not  far  from 
where  Moses  had  his  only  view  of  the  Promised 
Land  that  he  was  not  permitted  to  enter,  the  Brit- 


THE  WINGS  OF  THE  MORNING     363 

ish  and  the  Arabs  struck  east  and  straddled  the 
railroad  which  now  parallels  the  Pilgrims'  Way 
to  Mecca  which  for  nearly  thirteen  centuries  has 
been  continuously  trodden  by  the  feet  of  devout 
Moslems  going  to  the  birthplace  of  the  Prophet. 
To  the  western  world  the  claims  of  Mohammed  to 
be  a  Prophet  have  seemed  strange,  but  it  is  to  be 
remembered  that  one-third  of  the  population  of 
the  civilized  world  is  Mohammedan  and  that  so- 
briety, devoutness,  hospitality,  generosity,  cour- 
age, faith,  and  fidelity  are  the  principal  teachings 
of  Mohammed.  For  twelve  centuries,  seven  times 
a  day,  from  every  mosque  in  the  world  rings  the 
cry: 

' '  Prayer  is  better  than  sleep ! ' ' 

And  every  devout  Mohammedan  within  hearing 
casts  down  his  prayer-carpet  and  repeats  the 
words  of  his  devotions. 

Thus  the  Pilgrims'  route  to  Mecca  fell  into 
English  hands.  The  two  Sacred  Cities  of  the 
East  looked  to  the  British  as  their  Overlord. 

There  remained  but  one  step  more  to  the  final 
conquest  of  the  East,  the  capture  of  Damascus, 
the  capital  of  Syria,  one  of  the  most  ancient  cities 
of  the  world,  perhaps,  actually,  the  oldest  in  point 
of  view  of  continuous  occupation.  It  is  said  by 


364      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

Moslem  tradition  to  have  been  founded  by  Adam. 
Josephus,  the  great  historian,  declared  that  it  was 
founded  by  Uz,  the  great-grandson  of  Noah. 

Coming  to  more  reliable  tradition,  the  Old  Tes- 
tament states  that  Eliezer,  Abraham's  steward, 
was  of  Damascus,  known  by  that  name  even  in 
those  far-off  times.  Nine  hundred  years  later, 
the  Syrians  resented  the  development  of  the  Jews 
under  David,  whereupon  he  sent  a  punitive  ex- 
pedition against  Damascus,  and  established  a 
"garrison"  there.  The  great  city  passed 
through  many  hands,  became  the  capital  of  many 
dynasties,  but  was  taken  by  the  Arabs  or  Saracens 
from  the  hands  of  the  Byzantine  Empire,  and  fell 
at  last  into  the  hands  of  the  Turks.  Almost  alone 
of  all  the  cities  of  the  East,  Damascus  has  main- 
tained its  importance  for  four  thousand  five  hun- 
dred years.  No  city,  even  in  China,  can  show 
such  a  record. 

With  characteristic  liberality,  General  Allenby 
urged  the  Arab  army  to  participate  in  the  victor- 
ious entry  into  the  city.  They  had  deserved  it. 
They  had  fought  well  and  bravely.  British  Yeo- 
manry, Australian  Horse,  Indian  Horse,  Arab 
Horse  and  Camelry,  the  largest  mobile  cavalry 
army  that  the  world  has  ever  seen,  swept  north- 


THE  WINGS  OF  THE  MORNING     365 

ward  over  150  miles  of  desert,  where  grows  not  a 
blade  of  grass  nor  flows  a  stream  of  water,  and 
captured  Damascus.  They  were  opposed  by  an 
army  of  100,000  Turks,  with  16,000  Germans,  the 
latter  providing  the  artillery,  machine-gun  com- 
panies, signal  service  and  general  liaison.  The 
fighting  was  sharp  but  decisive.  The  mobility  of 
the  huge  cavalry  force  was  decisive,  and  almost 
before  it  could  be  realized  that  a  cavalry  arm 
could  be  sufficient  to  conduct  an  entire  campaign, 
on  October  1st  Damascus  was  in  British  and  Arab 
hands. 

But,  in  the  meanwhile,  tragedy  had  laid  its  hand 
upon  Mesopotamia.  Attending,  with  kindly  court- 
esy, an  entertainment  given  by  Arabic  children  in 
an  orphange,  General  Maude  was  deliberately 
poisoned.  The  evening  of  the  third  day  he  died. 

The  East  is  still  the  East. 

General  Marshall  was  appointed  in  command, 
a  man  in  no  sense  as  great  in  executive  power  as 
General  Maude,  but  a  military  leader  of  the  first 
rank.  He  did  not,  could  not  know  the  Mesopo- 
tamian  situation  as  Maude  had  done. 

When  the  news  of  Maude's  death  came,  the  old 
archaeologist  went  to  the  Military  Commandant  in 
Jerusalem. 


366      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

" General,"  he  said,  "I  can  be  of  help  in  Bag- 
dad." 

"Yes,  Professor,"  was  the  reply,  " there's  no 
doubt  of  that.  But  Bagdad's  a  long  way  from 
here." 

"Not  so  far,"  said  the  American. 

"There's  the  desert  to  cross!" 

"It's  not  so  far,"  repeated  the  American, 
" — by  aeroplane." 

The  Commandant  looked  at  him. 

"You  mean— fly!" 

"Yes." 

"And  if  engine  trouble  develops,  or  something 
of  that  sort?" 

"If  every  one  thought  of  the  dangers  first,  what 
would  be  accomplished?  If  I  can  get  a  volunteer 
from  the  Royal  Flying  Corps  to  act  as  pilot,  will 
you  speak  to  the  Commander  of  the  squadron!" 

"Yes,"  was  the  ready  reply,  "that  I  will." 

So  the  Syrian  desert  saw  the  great  plane, 
high  in  the  air,  sailing  from  west  to  east,  bearing 
an  English  pilot  and  the  undaunted  American 
scholar. 

No  engine  trouble  developed.  Stronger  than 
the  beating  of  any  living  wings,  the  aeroplane  sped 


THE  WINGS  OF  THE  MORNING     367 

over  sands  that  had  never  been  crossed  before 
save  by  the  patient  camel  or  the  irregular  dashes 
of  the  Arab  horse,  sped  over  the  Syrian  sands  and 
slowly  sank  to  rest  on  the  plains  that  lie  between 
Babylon  and  Bagdad,  not  far  from  where  the  tents 
of  a  Bedouin  encampment  dotted  the  silence. 

As  the  aeroplane  settled  to  earth  a  party  of 
Arab  horsemen  came  dashing  forward. 

"Bobbers!"  said  the  pilot,  reaching  for  his 
service  revolver. 

The  archaeologist  scanned  the  approaching 
figures. 

"No,  friends!"  he  declared,  with  a  smile.  "I 
know  all  the  Sheiks  of  the  tribes  in  these  parts." 

The  figures  came  still  nearer. 

"And  these,"  he  added,  "I  know  especially 
well." 

A  light  boyish  figure  leaped  off  the  nearest 
horse  and  dashed  forward  with  a  hearty  hand- 
grip. 

"Father!"  he  cried. 

The  taller  figure  salaamed  profoundly. 

"0  Man  of  Peace,"  he  said,  pointing  first  to 
the  aeroplane  and  then  .around  him  to  the  fields 
cultivated  under  the  irrigation  already  set  in  ac- 


368      WAR  IN  THE  HOLY  LAND 

tion  by  the  English  engineers,  "it  is  the  prophecy 
come  tme.  "The  Wings  of  the  Morning  have 
flown  from  the  west  to  the  east,  and  the  fields  of 
Babylon  are  green  again.'  " 


THE  END 


THE  WONDER  OF  WAR 
IN  THE  AIR 

By  FRANCIS  ROLT-WHEELER 

With  Forty-two  Illustrations  from  Unusual  War  Photo- 
graphs and  Sketches     Large    12 mo     Cloth     Price,    $1.50 

TVTO  more  lucid  account  has  ever 
been  written  of  the  various 
types  of  airplanes,  their  construc- 
tion, and  their  relative  purpose  in 
war.  One  sees  the  bombardment 
machine,  the  airplane  for  direct- 
ing artillery  fire,  the  scout,  and  the 
fighter  of  the  air,  at  worn:  in  their 
several  fields.  The  hero  of  the 
book,  trained  in  the  French  Flying 
Corps,  is  taught  every  detail  neces- 
sary in  that  new  world  of  warfare— 

the  battle-ground  of  the  skies.  He  witnesses  some  of  the 
most  historic  raids  of  the  War,  and  takes  a  share  in  the 
destruction  of  one  of  the  newest  aerial  monsters.  Taken  a 
prisoner  by  the  enemy,  the  young  aviator's  escape  (based  on 
an  actual  incident  from  the  front)  is  daring  in  the  extreme. 

"The  information  imparted  comes  step  by  st«p  and  with  the  spice  that 
allures  to  mastery  of  the  detail*  given.  It  leaves  on*  in  better  condition  to 
appreciate  those  parts  of  the  communiques  which  deal  with  air  fighting  than 
by  perusing  some  technical  volumes  on  the  subject." — Literary  Digest,N.  Y. 

"It  has  more  than  thrills,  abundant  as  these  are.  It  gives  a  comprehen- 
sible account  ox  the  technical  «ide  of  aviation,  and  any  lad  who  read*  it  will  be 
well  informet  on  all  the  varieties  of  planes  and  the  marvels  of  aerial 
strategy."  —  Philadelphia  Public  Ledger. 

"Probably  no  more  lucid  and  technically  correct  account  has  ever  been 
written  of  the  various  types  of  airplanes,  their  construction  and  their  rela- 
tive purposes  in  war.  It  holds  the  interest  from  cover  to  cover."  — 
Springfleld,  Ma»»,t  Union. 

"There  are  some  books  written  ostensibly  for  boys  which  are  marvelonsly 
Interesting  to  their  elders  aa  well.  This  is  one  of  that  class." — Brooklyn. 

Citizen. 


For  sale  by  all  booksellers  or  by  the  publishers 

Lothrop,  Lee  &  Shepard  Co.,  Boston,  Mass. 


U.  S.  SERVICE  SERIES 

By  FRANCIS  ROLT- WHEELER 

frustrations  from  photographs  taken  In  woik  for  U.  3.  Gov«rnmeu> 

Large  12mo    Cloth    $1.50  each,  net 
"There  are  no  better  books  for  boys  than  iTancis  Rolt- Wheeler's 
*U.  S.  Service  Series.'  " — Chicago  Rtford-Herald. 

THE  BOY  WITH  THE  U.  S.  SURVEY 

HPHIS  story  describes  the  thrilling  aovent- 
*•  ures  of  members  of  the  U  S.  Geological 
Survey,  graphically  woven  into  a  stirring 
narrative  that  both  pleases  and  instructs.  The 
author  enjoys  an  intimate  acquaintance  with 
the  chiefs  of  the  various  bureaus  in  Washing- 
ton, and  is  able  to  obtain  at  first  Hand  the 
material  for  his  books. 

"There  is  abundant  charm  and  vigor  in  the 
narrative  which  it  sure  to  please  the  boy  readers 
and  will  do  much  toward  stimulating  their  patriot- 
ism by  making  them  alive  to  the  neeos  of  conser- 
vation  of  the  vast  resources  of  their  country."— 
Chicago  AVa>«. 

THE  BOY  WITH  THE  U.  S.  FORESTERS 

THE  life  of  a  typical  boy  is  followed  in  all  its  adventurous  detail — the 
mighty  representative  of  our  country's  government,  though  young  in 
years — a  youthful  monarch  in  a  vast  domain  of  forest.     Replete  with 
information,  alive  with  adventure,  and  inciting  patriotism  at  every  step, 
this  handsome  book  is  one  to  be  instantly  appreciated. 

"  It  Is  a  fascinating  romance  of  real  life  in  oar  country,  and  will  provr  a  great 
pleasure  and  inspiration  to  the  boys  who  read  it."—  The  Continent,  Chicago, 

THE  BOY  WITH  THE  U.  S.  CENSUS 

THROUGH  the  experiences  of  a  bright  American  be"  the  author  shows 
how  the  necessary  infoimation  is  gathered.  The  securing  of  this  of- 
ten involves  hardship  and  peril,  requiring  journeys  by  dog-team  in  the 
frozen  North  and  by  launch  in  the  alligator-filled  Everglades  of  Florida, 
while  the  enumerator  whose  work  lies  among  the  dangerous  criminal 
classes  of  the  greater  cities  must  take  his  life  in  his  own  hands. 

"  Every  yonng  man  should  read  this  story  from  cover  to  cover,  thereby  petting 
a  clear  conception  of  conditions  as  they  exist  to-day,  for  such  know  ledge 'will  have 
a  clean,  invigorating  and  healthy  influence  on  fhe  young  growing  aa;  thinking 
mind." — Boston  Globe. 

For  Male  by  all  book  filler*  or  stint  postpaid  on  nee  tot  of 
price  by  the  publisher* 

IQTHROP,  LEE    &  SHEPARD  CO.,   60STOff 


THE  BOY  WITH  THE 
U.S.SURVEY 


U.  S.  SERVICE  SERIES 

By  FRANCIS   ROLT-WHEELER 

Many  Illustrations  from  photographs  taken  in  work  for  U.S.  Government 

Large  12mo    Cloth    Net  $1.50  per  volume 
"  There  are  no  better  books  for  boys  than  Francis  Rolt- Wheeler's  *  U.  S. 

Service  Series.'" — Chicago  Record- Herald. 

THEfBOY  WITH  THE  U.  S.  FISHERIES 

WITH  a  bright,  active  American  youth  as 
a  hero,  is  tcid  the  story  of  the  Fisheries, 
which  in  their  actual  importance  dwarf  every 
other  human  industry.  The  book  does  not 
lack  thrilling  scenes.  The  far  Aleutian  Islands 
have  witnessed  more  desperate  sea -fighting 
than  has  occurred  elsewhere  since  the  days  of 
the  Spanish  buccaneers,  and  pirate  craft,  which 
the  U.  S.  Fisheries  must  watch,  rifle  in  hand, 
are  prowling  in  the  Behring  Sea  to-day.  The 
fish-farms  of  the  United  States  are  as  inter- 
esting as  they  are  immense  in  their  scope. 
"One  of  the  best  books  for  boys  of  all  ages,  so 
attractively  written  and  illustrated  as  to  fascinate 
the  reader  into  staying  up  until  all  hours  to  finish 
\\."— Philadelphia  Despatch. 

THE  BOY  WITH  THE  U.  S.  INDIANS 

THIS  book  tells  all  about  the  Indian  as  he 
really  was  nnd  is;  the  Menominee  in  his 
birch-bark  canoe;  the  Iroquois  in  his  wigwam  in 
the  forest;  the  Jioux  of  the  plains  upon  his  war- 
pony  j  the  Apache,  cruel  and  unyielding  as  his 
arid  desert;  the  Pueblo  Indians,  with  remains  of 
ancient  Spanish  civilization  lurking  in  the  fast- 
nesses of  their  massed  communal  dwellings;  the 
Tlingit  of  the  Pacific  Coast,  with  his  totem-poles. 
With  a  typical  bright  American  youth  as  a  centra! 
figure,  a  good  idea  of  a  great  field  of  national 
activity  is  given,  and  made  thrilling  in  Us  human 
•idebythe  heroism  demanded  by  the  litt1  "-known 
adventures  of  those  who  do  the  work  01  >k  Uncle 
Sam." 

"  An  exceedingly  Interesting  Indian  story,  because  it  U  true,  and  not  mere'.y 
a  dramatic  and  picturesque  incident  ot  Indian  fife." — N.  Y.  Times. 

"  it  tells  the  Indian's  story  in  *  way  that  will  fascinate  the  yonngster,**- 
Rofhesier  Her  a!  it.  ^ ^_ 

fto  •  tale  by  ail  booksellers  or  seat  postpaid  oa  receipt 
of  price  by  the  publhhen 

LOTHROP,  LEE  &  SHEPARD  CO..  BOSTON 


THE  BOY  WITH  THE 
U.S.  FISHERIES 


THE  BOY  WITH  THE 
U.S.INDIANS 


U.  S.  SERVICE  SERIES 

By  FRANCIS  ROLT-WHEELER 

Many  illustrations  from  photographs  taken  in  work  for  U.  S.  Government 

Large  12mo    Cloth    Net,  $1.50  each 

"  There  are  no  better  books  for  boys  than  Francis  Rolt-Wheeler's  'U.  S. 
Service  Series."' — Chicago  Record-Herald. 

THE  BOY  WITH  THE  U.  S.  EXPLORERS 

THE  hero  saves  the  farm  in  Kansas,  which  his  father  is  not  able  to 
keep  up,  through  a  visit  to  Washington  which  results  in  making  the 
place  a  kind  of  temporary  experiment  station.  Wonderful  facts  of  plant 
and  animal  life  are  brought  out,  and  the  boy  wins  a  trip  around  the  world 
with  his  friend,  the  agent.  This  involves  many  adventures,  while 
exploring  the  Chinese  country  for  the  Bureau  of  Agriculture. 

"Boys  will  be  delig-hted  with  this  story,  which  is  one  that  inspires  the  readers 
with  the  ideals  of  industry,  thrift  and  uprightness  of  conduct." — Argus. Leader, 
Portland,  Me. 

THE  BOY  WITH  THE  U.  S.  LIFE  SAVERS 

T""HE  billows  surge  and  thunder  through 
*•  this  book,  heroism  and  the  gallant  facing 
of  peril  are  wrought  into  its  very  fabric,  and 
the  Coast  Guard  has  endorsed  its  accuracy. 
The  stories  of  the  rescue  of  the  engineer 
trapped  on  a  burning  ship,  and  the  pluck  of 
the  men  who  built  the  Smith's  Point  Light- 
house are  told  so  vividly  that  it  is  hard  to 
keep  from  cheering  aloud. 

"This  is  an  ideal  book  for  boys  because  it  ii 
natural,  inspiring,  and  of  unfailing  interest  from 
cover  to  cover." — Marine  Journal. 

THE  BOY  WITH 

THE  U.  S.  MAIL 

HOW  much  do  you  know  of  the  working  of  the  vast   and   wonderful 
Post  Office  Department?    The  officials  of  this  department  have,  as 
in  the  case  of  all  other  Departments  covered  in  this  series,  extended  their 
courtesy  to  Dr.  Rolt-Wheeler  to  enable  him  to  tell  us  about  one  of  the 
most  interesting  forms  of  Uncle  Sam's  care  for  us. 

"Stamp  collecting:,  carrier  pigeons,  aeroplanes,  detectives,  hold-ups,  tales  of 
the  Overland  trail  KM  toe  Pony  Express,  Indians,  Buffalo  Bill  —  what  boy  would 
not  be  delighted  with  a  oook  in  which  all  these  fascinating  things  are  to  be  found?" 
—  Universal ist  Leader. 

For  sale  by  all  booksellers  or  sent  postpaid  on  receipt 
of  price  by  the  publishers 

LOTHROP,  LEE  &  SHEPARD  CO.,  BOSTON 


THE  BOY  WITH  THE 
U.S. LIFE  SAVERS 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

Los  Angeles 
This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


FEB  18  1975 


Form  L9-32m-8,'57 (,C8680s4)444 


!n  HiUTHERN  REGI°NAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 

AA    000483872    8 


